Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix
by Lothwen the Harpist
Summary: Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right? Jonouchi x Kaiba
1. The life of a teenager

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary: **_Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 1: The life of a teenager**

Jou woke up in a tangle of bed sheets and pillows when he heard the slamming of a door and the roar of a voice announcing that his oh-so-wonderful father had arrived home from the bar. Sleep still clogging his senses, he groggily ran his hand through his blonde tresses and focused on the cheap, battered alarm clock that stood on his nightstand. He was met with an unpleasant surprise.

_**-Moment's later-**_

Fifteen minutes late and half ready, Jou blearily stumbled out of his dingy apartment and began the five-block run to his school. He straightened his school uniform and wished he had at least had the time to eat as he sprinted down the street, his feet heavily slapping the sidewalk. 'Why does my day always start like this?' He mused, turning rather sharply at a streetlight. Just one day he would like to walk to school with a full stomach and content smile rather than whirling like some demented tornado down the road.

Living in a shifty place with an abusive father was hard enough for Jou all on it's own. But the added pressure of school had really taken its toll on him and he was unsure he'd be able to live much longer under these circumstances. It was as if the whole world was against him, beating him down and laughing at his misery. Life was getting harder and harder to pull himself through everyday.

Sure he had wonderful friends that would do anything for him. But the thought of unloading all this desolation on innocent Yugi and Ryou seemed too cruel. Honda knew partly of his circumstances but he was tied down by his own gloomy life as well, Yami would probably do something drastic like send his father to the shadow realm, Bakura would laugh in his face, saying he deserved this wonderful torture, Otogi probably couldn't get the concept of poverty and despair though his mind, Malik and Marik wouldn't do shit like normal, and Anzu was too wrapped up in herself and Yami to help anybody. It looked like he was on his own, though he was quite used to it by now. His mother and sister had left him at an early age and his father was a complete asshole. Family wasn't a luxury to him and he had learned to live without it.

Jou rounded another corner and breathed a sigh of relief as he came up to the school's entrance. The bell hadn't rung yet and he could see several students meandering among the school's premises. He was going to make it after all. Maybe he even could enjoy some time with his friends before homeroom began. But before he could take two steps, he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Well if it isn't the school mascot." The voice sneered behind him, making the hairs on Jou's neck bristle. "This isn't the pound, Mutt. Crawl back to where you belong."

"Kaiba!" Jou growled, turning to meet the cerulean-eyed teen. "I'm not a fucking mutt! Go to hell."

"Tsk, tsk." He answered back a smirk upon his face. "A dog should not speak to his master in that tone or be so late for that matter. Bad dog!"

Jou felt anger rise up in his chest as he gritted his teeth, willing himself not to lose his temper completely. "Shut up, Kaiba. Not everyone has the privilege to get his ass toted around town in a limo. Some of us actually have to walk to school."

For some reason, this seemed to put a rather nastier frown than usual on his face. "Well, Mutt. At least some of those kids at least have the decency to run a comb through their hair every once in awhile."

'Ooo, this is getting bad,' Jou thought as he drew in a breath and held it there, struggling to keep himself from smashing in the face of the brunette before him. 'But I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of making me lose my self-control.' "Well I only know one kid around here who spends hours in front of the mirror preening himself like a fucking girl." Hmm, nicely placed insult but maybe a bit too long. "Or do you have your own hired hairdresser, Moneybags?" That would get to him.

"Huh," Kaiba said regaining his trademark smirk. "What a loser. You aren't even worth my-"

Kaiba cut off his sentence abruptly and clutched his stomach, face contorted in pain. Jou, who had been readying himself for his next comeback stared in confusion at the CEO, wondering what the hell was going on. "Kaiba what-?"

But it seemed Kaiba wasn't listening. He hit the ground on one knee with sharp crack and fell on all fours, panting. Jou, on instinct, reached out to help him, but his hand was slapped away. Azure eyes clouded with anguish met his and Kaiba snarled, "Leave me, Mutt. I don't need your petty help."

Now Jou thoroughly hated the teen before him, but he wasn't heartless enough to leave him writhing in agony on the ground. He had to at least get him to the nurse or someone that could find out what the hell was wrong. So with the thought firmly set in his head that he was just doing this because he had too, Jou grabbed Kaiba and hoisted him up onto his shoulders. Though it seemed that Kaiba wanted to save his ego and struggled with Jou, his eyes sharpening into ice. "I told you, Inu, I don't need help. Now unhand me you-"

"Listen, you stuffed peacock." Jou growled, cutting Kaiba off. "I don't want to do this anymore than you do, but I'm not a complete bastard like you, so leaving people who obviously need help on the ground is not my specialty."

Kaiba looked to kill, his teeth bared like some wild animal. Sapphire fire burning in his eyes, he sneered, "And your saying that mine is?"

Jou feigning surprise at the remark replied, "What? I thought that was a complement to you." Jou found himself inches away from Kaiba's face. But he mustn't lose courage here. "You like being recognized as a cruel, evil, sadist don't you? Maybe I was wrong."

"You- You-" Kaiba sputtered, and Jou swore he had fangs. Maybe he shouldn't have insulted him, since wounded, cornered or provoked animals usually did the most damage. But before Kaiba could do anything particularly terrible to him, another wave of pain hit him and he collapsed heavily into Jou's arms. He stumbled under the sudden weight and struggled to keep standing, hoping that his muscles wouldn't snap.

"C'mon Kaiba," He said through clenched teeth, the strain on his lanky frame becoming unbearable. "You got to rebound to your old self and support some of your own weight. Otherwise we aren't getting anywhere." But Kaiba seemed to have either fainted or didn't have enough strength to reply. His breathing had become rather labored and a small part of Jou began to worry about him. 'What the hell did you do to yourself?' Jou thought, trying desperately to snap him out of it. 'And how the hell am I going to get you anywhere. I...oh shit.'

Oh shit was right. The bell had just rung, it's shrilly tone echoing throughout the entire school and grating on Jou's nerves. Whoever had made up "saved by the bell" had never been in this position. Franticly, Jou whipped his head around, looking for some authority to help him, but luck wasn't on his side today and he sighed in defeat. He had hoped it wouldn't have come to this.

Kneeling on the ground, Jou hooked his arms under Kaiba's knees and picked him up bridal style. Managing to get to his feet, Jou began to slowly make his way to the office, his legs protesting against the weight he had put upon them. When he looked into Kaiba's usually arrogant face, Jou was surprised to find that his eyes were open. They were widened in disbelief and surprise and he noticed that they had this glazed look to them. Not glittering with anger like Jou had normally seen them. He grabbed Jou's shirt in what looked like fear and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. It seemed as if Kaiba was speechless so Jou decided to fill the silence with his own voice.

"Kaiba, we're almost to the nurse so just, don't die okay?" It sounded stupid in his head, it sounded stupid to him just before it came out, yet he had said it. Groaning, Jou fought the urge to drop Kaiba and save what was left of his pride. But instead he just shut his mouth, and painfully made his way to the school's cream-colored office, wishing that he had just stayed in bed this morning.

_**-More painful steps-**_

After a few more feet, Jou had to give body a rest and leaned against a wall, breathing heavily. He looked back down at his unwanted cargo and found that he was sleeping. Jou nearly smiled at how peaceful he looked like that. If only he could stay that way, then maybe things would be different. Jou sighed once again. He remembered when Kaiba had first made his entrance into his life. He remembered wanting to be his friend and play duel monsters with him. But of course, the CEO just threw his cards and laughed in his face. He had continued to insult him on a daily basis, causing Jou to develop a strong hatred towards him. 'But also,' Jou thought reluctantly as he shifted, causing Kaiba to stir. 'There is not just hatred I feel for him. There is something...else'

Jou angrily pushed that thought out of his head, wondering if he was thinking about the same asshole that was in his arms. He pushed off the wall, walking once again to his destination. That was all he needed to do. Drop Kaiba off and receive an excuse to go to class. He didn't have time to daydream about things that never would come true.

**End of Chapter 1**

**Author's notes:** _Read and review please. I would greatly appreciate it even if they are flames. I want to know how you are responding to my story so they will be welcomed as well._


	2. Cold glares and broken sentences

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning: **_Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right? _

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 2: Cold glares and broken sentences**

When Jou found himself at the door of the school's office, he nearly cried in relief. It felt like his arms were strung out permanently from all the weight he put on them and he had developed a rather nasty throb in his left temple. Kaiba hadn't woken up since he had first fallen asleep and Jou was glad. He didn't need his nasty insults or cold glares. He calmly struggled with the door before it finally swung open and slammed into the wall. Jou cringed as the noise boomed through the office, causing several secretaries to glare up at him from the piles of paperwork that littered their desks.

"Uh, sorry about that." Jou said meekly, wondering if he should just set Kaiba down and scurry out of there. But instead, he made his way to the nurse, catching only a few of the secretaries' surprised expressions. He knew he would get a reaction like that and he really wished that he were somewhere else.

The nurse sat behind a small wooden desk located in the center of the room, inspecting something crusted onto her overly large glasses. She didn't hear him when he came in and he cleared his throat, dreading her reaction.

Sure enough, she dropped her glasses with a thud and gaped at the sight before her. Jou was just imaging all the thoughts that were flying through her head at this moment. He had been in here over the past years, getting patched up from all the fights he had gotten into. And when that stage had been squashed by him actually getting a real friend, he was always passing through here led by a rather flustered principal who was preaching to him the importance of getting along with other classmates, specifically Kaiba. But of course, none of them had the guts to actually call the Ice King in themselves. They valued their jobs too much. Anyways, the point being, the nurse knew well of Jou's fights with Kaiba and to see him here with him in his arms was a bit of a shock. She screeched.

"Wha- wha-?" She blubbered, looking very much like the secretaries. "What happened?"

"Well, you see-" He began but was rudely interpreted by the principal himself, mopping his sweaty brow and panting, as if he had run. He probably had.

"What's going on here?" He roared, his gaze flicking to Jou and then locked eyes with the nurse. "I just got a call that-"

Of course the look of shock that passed over his face was expected, but did he really have to imitate a fish? He turned his head ever so slowly, doing a double take at the pair in front of him and his face paled considerably. "Wha-?"

"Listen, before you start making assumptions," Jou interjected angrily. If all they could do was stare and splutter, he might as well make his side heard. "I didn't do this. He just, um, collapsed on me." Fainting was too dainty for Kaiba.

The principal surveyed the situation before him, with unbiased eyes. He knew well that Jou wasn't exactly what you'd call "buddies" with Kaiba. In fact, the last time he checked, they both loathed each other. But he also knew Jou wasn't the type to kick people down until they passed out. He was skilled in fighting and knows that once the opponent can no longer fight, the battle is over. Several times too many he had been referred to as a bully and he had made it clear to him that he was nothing of the sort. Yes, Jou would never do something like this.

"Okay Jonouchi, I believe you." The principal said, catching his breath and regaining his composure. "If you would kindly set him over on the bed, I'm sure we can figure out just what happened."

Jou stumbled over to the undersized, rectangular bed in the room and set Kaiba down on the starchy sheets. Relieved of his burden, his spirits lightened considerably and he turned to face the overweight, balding man known as his principal. The man inspected the boy closely and then turned to the nurse.

"Make sure that Mister Kaiba here isn't in any mortal danger and make him as comfortable as possible." The principal took a deep breath. "If he wakes up, inform me immediately."

He turned to Jou. "Please come to my office, Jonouchi. I want to discuss what happened." Jou reluctantly followed, knowing that this would probably take awhile.

_**-Later-**_

"...And so I carried him all the way to the office, earning a few shocked glances and broken sentences." Jou finished, his voice growing hoarse. The principal had taken the liberty to question him on all sorts of small details, causing the frustrated blonde to get sidetracked from his explanation and made it ten times longer than needed.

"Is that all?" the principal inquired from behind the smooth, polished oak desk seated in his office. It was obvious that he wanted to wrap up this conversation.

"Yes," sighed Jou, grateful that it was finally coming to an end. It felt like he was being interrogated. "Can I please have an excuse to go to class?"

The principal examined the boy with mild surprise. "Since when did you start to actually want to go to school?" He joked, "Is this the same person who I caught cutting class?"

Laughing at the scowl that darkened the blonde's features, the principal whipped out a small pad and a pen and began to write him a pass. "I want to thank you, Jonouchi, for answering all my questions." He said solemnly, neatly ripping the pass off. "But do try to stay out of trouble."

"I will, Mr. Isoda." Jou equally answered in seriousness. He really would try not to get himself in these kinds of situations again. "And I will avoid Kaiba for awhile. I doubt he'll enjoy my company."

"Hmm, so true." He handed the pass over. "Speaking of which-"

But they were interrupted by a small knock on the office door. "Come in," Mr. Isoda called, as Jou grabbed his belongings.

The nurse, rather flustered, poked her head in. "Mr. Isoda?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Mister Kaiba has woken up. And he doesn't seemed too pleased."

**End of Chapter 2**

**Author's notes: **_Firstly, I want to thank all my wonderful reviewers. I seriously thought about terminating this story, since it was written at three o' clock yesterday morning as a joke. But they convinced me to keep writing. And thank you for pointing out my mistakes (I've hopefully fixed them all) and for the much-needed praise. It really brightened my day. Also, I want to say that I'm not quite sure where this is going, so I'm struggling to figure out what exactly is wrong with Kaiba. I thought about giving him a slightly amplified version of what happened to me a while ago, but any suggestions would be welcome. Anyways, I think I've said enough. Read and Review please, it's good for my story's nutrition. ;)_


	3. Dreadful lectures and painful notes

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary: **_Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right? _

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 3: Dreadful lectures and painful notes**

To say that Kaiba wasn't very pleased was an understatement. He was furious. Cell phone plastered to his ear, Kaiba was pacing the nurse's office and snapping at his secretary on the other side, having her reschedule approximately ten appointments that were thrown off course.

"Listen you incompetent imbecile!" Kaiba spat into the poor woman's ear, tearing her self-esteem to shreds. "I want you to contact and tell them that I am going to be an hour late. No, keep the six o' clock but reschedule the seven thirty to nine. Yes, I am aware that it is eight forty seven and I plan on being there on time! My excuse? Tell them that I got side tracked. Are we settled? Okay now I need you to push back the entire set I had after three pm an hour. The dinner party is a ten? Keep that and I'll cut off thirty minutes from the previous. They are not that important anyways. Have you gotten through? Tell them that I'm leaving the school now and that if they complain...yes and also tell them not to spring these things up on me at the last second. I have a tight agenda and an obligation to attend school."

With that he snapped his cell phone shut and reached for his coat that was resting on a chair. When he bent over however, a sudden rush of dizziness hit him and he halted. He felt his knees become weak and was on the verge of collapsing again. 'No.' He thought feebly. 'This is what threw me off last time and I cannot let it happen again.' Vision blurry and unfocused, Kaiba angrily fought the spell off and seized the coat, though he nearly toppled into the chair.

'These episodes are becoming more and more bothersome.' He thought as he slid the jacket on. 'Not to mention more frequent.' He reached for his silver briefcase that was found lying on the ground outside by the nurse. Nausea engulfed his senses and he nearly missed the handle. 'I may be coming down with something.'

After swiping the briefcase off the floor and straightening his coat, Kaiba headed for the door, only to have it open up before he could reach it and three people plow into him.

The force knocked the wind out of him and he stumbled back, desperately trying to grab onto something, anything that would keep him from falling. His hand caught onto someone.

Hair. Blonde. Tangled. He pulled it down with him, barely registering that he had grabbed the mutt and tried to let go. It was too late. Stars exploded in front of his eyes, as his head made contact with the ground, a thud resounding throughout the room. He cried out sharply in pain, but fortunately didn't lose consciousness. Yet. Gravity did its work and sent a rather stunned puppy hurtling after him.

Having slammed into his chest, Kaiba's face was buried Jou's hair, eyes watering slightly from the massive headache that was now forming at the back of his skull. It was beating and shredding his brain. He was slightly soothed though by the smell of the blonde's hair. Like fresh picked strawberries from the field. He could just lose himself in the aroma. And take a much-needed rest. Oh it would be so nice to just hold someone and sleep. It would be heaven...

"Mister Kaiba, Jonouchi, are you alright?" He heard the principal call, drawing him back. But of course he couldn't do that something as foolish as that. Life called to him and he had many responsibilities to attend to. There was no time to nap.

Kaiba irritably shoved the teen off him, and watched as Jou snapped out of some trance he was in, looking horrified at his actions. He struggled to his feet, a light blush dusting his cheeks and stood there, gaping down at the brunette with that same appalled look.

"Close your mouth, Mutt." Kaiba said, standing up and brushing himself off. "I don't think the nurse will appreciate dog drool all over her office very much."

"Kaiba! I'm not a dog!" There it was again. He irritated the hell out the growling adolescent before him just to see him get enraged like this. His eyes intensifying from honey to a burnt umber. So much passion lay behind those eyes, swirling in it depths and memorizing the person who was fixated with them. And it was all for him. He infuriated the blonde like no one else and he deserved this kind of reaction. Oh, how he loved it. How he loved to hate the blonde. So much that it had caused him to get diverted this morning from his earlier task. But it was worth it.

"Huh, well that's news to me." Kaiba smirked, picking up his briefcase and heading towards the door. He brushed by the principal who had opened his mouth to speak but shut up at the glare that Kaiba threw him. "Don't come running to me though when the pound finally catches up to you, Mutt."

As he swept out of his office and towards his limo, he could hear Jou's shouts, taunting him to come back and face him like a man. A small and very simple smile played across his lips as he slid into the car and barked orders to his driver. Somehow, that little diversion made the day a bit easier for him.

_**-Back at school-**_

'Damn that punk makes me so fucking angry sometimes.' Jou thought as he shuffled to class, his hand unconsciously crumpling his pass to class into a ball. 'I mean, he has no right to treat people like that. Like he's so much more superior.'

He kicked a stone, watching as it bounced across the pavement and his frown deepened. 'What was wrong with him anyways? He looked like he was going to collapse again.' Jou shifted his backpack whose strap was digging into his shoulder. 'I wonder if Mokuba knows that his brother is ill. I mean, he did look pretty awful.'

Startled by own thoughts, Jou glowered. 'What the hell? Since when do I give a shit about that snob?' Jou shook his head, trying to clear his head. 'I must be delusional. I mean, who cares if that guy is destroying himself? I certainly don't.'

Deciding to drop the subject completely, Jou turned his attentions to where he was heading and found that he had been standing at his classroom door for who knows how long. 'Damn Kaiba, he's now even invading my thoughts.'

He pushed rather roughly through the door, creating quite a disruption and causing the teacher to frown at him from over her book. "Mister Jonouchi, why, might I ask, are you late?" She asked sharply, still glaring at him from behind her spectacles. Jou held up the wrinkled ball that was his pass in defense and handed it over to her. Smoothing it out, she held it up to the light checking its authenticity and huffed as if disappointed that she couldn't find a reason to get rid of him. "Very well then, take a seat." She said, waving him away from her desk.

Jou, a bit miffed by his teacher's reaction, took his usual place behind Yugi. Immediately after he sat down and started pulling out his books, he felt something hit the side of his head. Throwing Honda, who was a few rows over a dirty look, Jou unfolded the note.

_Jou,_

_Where the hell have you been?_

_-Honda_

Jou struggled with the barley legible handwriting, but he was used to it by now. He pulled out his pen and scrawled:

_Long story. I will explain at lunch._

_-Jou_

Glancing at the teacher, who still had her nose in her book, Jou threw the note back, watching with satisfaction as hit Honda in the face. He turned back to his books, only to have his vision obscured by a flying piece of paper.

_Yugi was near tears; you shouldn't make us worry like that._

_-Honda_

Scowl darkening, Jou scribbled:

_Look man, it wasn't my fault. Stupid Kaiba went and had to ruin my day._

_-Jou_

Throwing it a bit off in his frustration, it hit the girl behind Honda. She looked at the note, a revolted expression upon her face, and shoved it into the back of Honda's skull. Face contorted in pain, he glared at Jou and took the note.

It came soaring back at him and hit him in the eye. 'Well, what goes around, comes around.' Jou thought as he rubbed his stinging eye and opened the note.

_Did you provoke him?_

_-Honda_

Jou chose his words carefully before writing them down.

_No! He insulted me first. Then-_

He broke off. Should he tell his friends what happened? I mean it seemed cruel to tell everyone that the big, bad, CEO had fainted in his arms. Plus he really didn't want to explain to Honda why he carried him all the way to the nurse.

_-it started into another typical fight except this time I didn't start it._

_-Jou_

Honda rolled his eyes at him after he read the note as if to say 'Yeah, sure' and turned his attention to the teacher who had gotten up to address the class.

"Okay class, you may put away all your materials now. The bell is about to ring." She said, seeming somewhat relieved that she could be free of them all for the rest of the day. "I expect those reading journals to be finished by Monday and no later."

The whole class groaned in unison but she simply ignored them. "Why were you so late, Jou, you had me worried?" Yugi said, as they shoved papers and such into their backpacks.

Jou opened his mouth to reply but Honda, who had made his way over to them, interrupted. "Just another routine fight with Kaiba. Nothing to worry about, Yugi."

"Honda!" Jou said angrily, turning to face his "friend". "Never mention fighting around Yugi" was the number one rule Jou had on his list (tied with "Never talk about friendship in front of Anzu"). It was amazing how much force Yugi could muster up when lecturing about fighting.

"JONOUCHI-" Yugi began, his eyes growing big. But luckily the bell cut him off and Jou pushed his way through the throng of students, leaving Yugi to stew in disappointment with his behavior in silence.

Miraculously stumbling into the halls with only a few minor bruises, Jou began to make his way to second period. He had biology next with Honda and fortunately Yugi had geometry. Maybe he could escape his wrath until lunch.

"Oy! Jou! Honda!" A voice called from the halls. Jou turned seeing the familiar black ponytail of Otogi in the sea of people. "Over here!"

Shoving as politely as they could, Jou, Honda, and Yugi made their way over to Otogi. He was standing, no…more like smashed next to a group of lockers, waving furiously. "Hiya guys," He said breathlessly, rubbing his arm. It most likely had been crashed into the lockers one too many times. "Geez, they really need to expand these halls."

"Tell me about it." Honda said thickly over his bloody nose. He had bumped into the school bully on his way over here. Otogi stared at him, his emerald eyes widening considerably, before turning towards Jou.

"Where were you this morning?" Otogi said, hand reaching up to play with a strand of his ebony hair. "We looked all over for you."

"I, uh, had a run in with Kaiba." Jou said sheepishly. Lying to his friends wasn't very fun.

Honda audibly snickered before clapping his hand on Jou's shoulder. "Fight. Never fails. He's too hotheaded. Gets into one every day"

"Honda!" Jou said again, throwing his hand off his shoulder. "I'm not hotheaded! In fact you-"

His ranting was interrupted by a tug on his sleeve and he looked down at Yugi. "Jou about that. I really-"

Otogi who sensed what was coming, took Jou by the elbow and led him away. "Come on Honda, we'll be late for second period! See ya Yugi!"

Jou was positive he heard Yugi growl as they were escorted to second period and was not looking forward to the unavoidable discussion that they were going to have.

"Thanks Otogi," Jou said gratefully as they crammed themselves inside biology class. "Once he gets going it seems like he never stops."

"No prob." He said, seating himself at a smooth, black table along with Jou and Honda. "But you're going to have to deal with it sooner or later."

"Yeah, I know." The blonde said gloomily, looking up at the teacher who had entered the classroom. "For once I am not looking forward to lunch."

**End of Chapter 3**

**Author's notes:** _Yay! I made it longer! Now if only I could write better. Oh well, that is for you to decide. Although I must say, those reviews last time were anything but bad. (blushes furiously) You people treat me too nice. ;) Sorry I ended it all weird but I really wanted to get this chapter out to you A.S.A.P. I hope enjoy it, though the first part was not up to my expectations. (sigh) Anyways, Read and Review because what you say makes my day! (Lol. How corny.) :P _


	4. Spork suicide

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary: **_Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right? _

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 4: Spork suicide **

Kaiba stepped out of the stifling corporate building and took a breath of much-needed air before strolling to his parked limo. The meeting had taken longer than necessary and he wasn't sure if he should head back to school or work, since it kept him so long. They had nettled him of useless, insignificant things and offered him everything but what he had wanted. Of course he had gotten his way, but it had drained him of precious energy that could be used for more productive things. Like, for instance, annoying the mutt.

Kaiba smirked as he tossed his briefcase into the limo and climbed in after it. "Annoying the mutt" wasn't exactly as beneficial as some of the work he could be doing, but it sure as hell was rewarding. An exasperated puppy tends to do idiotic things and watching other people make fools of themselves was entertaining. And everybody knows that the president of Kaiba Corporation doesn't get much entertainment.

He pulled out his sleek, ice blue laptop and checked his agenda. Only two meetings and that irritating dinner party were left. Since they were both scheduled after school, he could head back and be there around lunch, the baka's favorite time no doubt. He had the last and longest period with him and knew if his driver actually did his job right, he could make it over there at about the time it started.

"Mr. Kaiba?" The driver's timid voice called from the front. "Can I drop you off anywhere?"

After a few minutes more of debating Kaiba replied. "Domino High." And to add to the effect that he needed to be there soon. "Be quick about it or I'll fire you."

The limo tore out of the parking lot and headed down the road, its tires screeching.

_**-Lunch-**_

Yugi hadn't taken a breath for about three minutes now and Jou began to worry if he ever was. When the lunch bell rang, Jou thought maybe he could take the long way to the cafeteria, grab his food, and run back to eat in some deserted classroom. But Yugi must know him too well because he found him waiting outside his art class, miniature foot tapping impatiently and a scowl that clearly meant trouble.

And so here he was, sitting along side Honda and Ryou, watching Yugi turn slightly blue from all the ranting he was doing.

"And even if you didn't start it, Jou, you could have ignored him and just walked away!" Yugi continued, his hand crushing the milk carton that happened to be near by. Jou gulped, wondering if that may happen to him. Even though Yugi was small, he could be quite frightening at times. "Or you could have just told him to shove off and threatened to go to an administrator or something. You could have even _run _or done _anything _that would have avoided a fight because you know that's exactly what he wants. He wants you to get all riled up like that because he likes watching you make a complete fool out of yourself!"

Jou was just beginning to consider committing suicide with a plastic spork when his knight in shinning armor showed up. Or rather in tight leather pants and studded belts. He came like a true hero would, head held high and flanked by his trusty assistant, Bakura, who was currently trying to kill him with his own spork. Luckily, his knight was not affected by this disloyal act and bravely faced the beast that was attacking Jou.

"You might want to take a breath, Aibou, otherwise you might pass out." Yami said calmly, resting his hand on his now cherry red-faced partner's head. "And I think Jonouchi has gotten the point of you lecture, possibly twice over."

Yugi finally took a deep breath and relaxed. Only Yami had this kind of magic over him, consoling and reassuring Yugi in the toughest of times.

Anzu, who had been listlessly mashing her rice throughout Yugi's outburst, perked up and scooted over so Yami could be seated. It was no secret that she had feelings for the confident young man. 'Except maybe to the teen himself.' Thought Jou as he saw Yami smile brightly and naïvely at Anzu, taking the offer. But it was also no secret that Yami had feelings for Yugi, at least not to them. Yugi and Anzu seemed to be walking around in a fog these days when it comes to love.

Jou heaved a sigh, massaging his now sore ears and receiving a sympathetic look from Ryou. Bakura had sat down beside him and promptly started attacking the helpless Okonomiyaki (1) that lay oozing on his plate. He looked over at his animal-like yami, distaste splayed across his features, before shaking his head and returning to his own food.

There again was another relationship in process. How Ryou had managed to tame Bakura was one of the many mysteries of the world. But he was now an equivalent to a rabid dog instead of sadistic tiger and even went to school. How Ryou managed to stand having him at school perplexed Jou also, since he was now spraying bits of his meal all over the place.

"Alright Jonouchi?" Yami playfully questioned, oblivious to Anzu's attempts to catch his attention. "I know that not many have come out of one of my Hikari's lectures unscathed."

"Yami! I'm not that bad!" Yugi pouted, poking his food that looked to be a cross between road kill and what was stuck under the bathroom sink. "It was for his own good also." Yami laughed lightly and patted Yugi's head, earning a teasing swat, while Anzu eyes flared with jealousy.

_**-Front of school-**_

Kaiba strode up to the office, his coat elegantly trailing behind him. He needed to deal with that foolish principal in order to receive a permit for class and he was certainly not looking forward to it. He would probably have false concern for his health, inquiring how he was feeling and such n' such.

That was one of the things he could not stand about people, how they treated him. Either they were scared shitless or thinking that they could break his icy exterior. He really disliked the latter because they thought that they were on friendly terms with him. At least the intimidated ones listened to his requests to stay away. Maybe that's why he loved to bother the puppy so much; he was the only one, besides his brother, who really treated him like he was supposed to be. Like a normal person. Though only Mokuba saw his kind side.

As he came up to the glass paneled office door, he was struck by a strong sense of recollection. The mutt had carried him here, to this office. He remembered collapsing in his arms and being picked up. Though he would not admit it, Kaiba had been afraid. He had never been held by anyone but his brother, and only then it had just been swift hugs. It had shocked his system to have that much human contact for such a long period. So much he had passed out.

Kaiba shook his head and hopefully with it the remaining traces of whatever he had been thinking of. He did not need these intimate thoughts about that dog. He only liked to aggravate him and nothing else. But much to his frustration, he could not get him out of his head as he walked briskly into the office.

_**-Last period-**_

Jou strolled into his last and favorite period. He had all his friends with him and each sat fairly close. It was right after lunch, so his stomach was full and content. Also, Jou was actually fairly good in History. It fascinated him to learn about fallen empires and lost tribes. Plus, Yami came in handy with the subject that they were learning about, Egypt. Sometimes it was quite funny to see his and Bakura's expressions when the historians misinterpreted the Hieroglyphics.

The only downfall to this dream like class was that Kaiba was seated diagonally from him. The teacher seemed to believe that everybody could get along and refused to listen to the other teachers' warnings about this pair. But today the conceited snob was absent, Jou should know since he witnessed him stalking out of the school, and life seemed a whole lot better.

He watched with mild amusement as Bakura refused to take his seat, three rows away from Ryou, and got into a heated argument. The teacher, having had her fair share of teenagers today, finally gave in and ordered a thoroughly baffled Bakura to just sit down. He had been expecting more of a fight.

"Okay class, please be seated so we can start." Called the teacher's exhausted voice over the chatter. Jou rapidly made his way to his seat, knowing that tired teachers and disobedient children did not mix well. "We will be starting our next and in my opinion, one of the most interesting subjects, Feudal Japan. It is essential-"

She cut off since the classroom door had just opened and everybody turned to see who had dared to come this late. Jou lazily glanced over, expecting some kid to walk in with a thousand excuses to why he was tardy. He got the shock of his life when none other than Seto Kaiba strolled in, his usual arrogant smirk planted on his face.

**End of Chapter 4**

**Definitions: **_1) Kind of a mixture between a cabbage pancake and a pizza._

**Author's notes: **_Whew! That took forever. I kept getting interrupted by my brother who kept insisting I play Legos with him and finally gave in. We built this ship that fell apart about seventeen times before he got too frustrated and went to "go build one that would actually stay together." Feeling miffed that he treated me like that; I went to go write only to find that the power went out. (Arrgh!) Anyways, here it is and you better like it dammit, because it took a lot of self-control to keep from throwing the evil computer across the room. Lol. Just kidding. Read and Review and I'll love you forever. (Run away!) P.S. As you can see I changed my pen name. I do not know why I chose this one but I did. _


	5. Don't leave me

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary: **_Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right? _

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 5: Don't leave me **

"The Heian period was one of the longest periods of uninterrupted peace in early Japan; in fact…" The teacher's words washed over him, like a stream over pebbles. Normally, he would be sitting, rapt with attention, and basking in knowledge about Edo Japan. Or at least, listening. But now a certain brunette seemed to be the only thing that could captivate his interest.

'Why is he here?' Thought Jou, absent-mindedly sketching on his notebook. 'He's sick. Why is he here? Wait…why am I thinking of him? I don't care if he's sick or not.' Jou irately focused back on the lesson, gritting his teeth.

This had been going on for quite awhile. He would sit there, thinking of the CEO, realize it, become disgusted with himself and force his concentration on the teacher again, only to drift back into thoughts about the teen. It was an inexhaustible cycle that frustrated the hell out of him. Nerves wearing thin, he was once again jostled out of his thoughts when the teacher slammed a meaty hand down on his desk, causing him to jump. Another flaw in his beloved period.

"MIS-ter Jonouchi!" The instructor bellowed, forcing him to look into her sharp angled face. "If you have nothing better to do in my class than…"

She bent over to examine his doodle-ridden notebook and Jou felt a sense of dread seep into his heart. No matter how hard he worked in this class, she seemed to hate him and never missed a chance to send him away. "…draw stick figures, than I suggest you get out now."

Jou opened his mouth to speak, brain trying to rack up a plausible excuse, but she cut him off. "NOW!"

Fuming, Jou stood up rather abruptly, causing the teacher to stumble back in surprise. "FINE!" he yelled, as he grabbed his notebook and roughly stuffed it into his backpack. "I don't need to be here anyways."

Stomping in his fury, Jou headed up the aisles and passed by a rather smug Kaiba. He didn't have the time to unleash his rage on anyone else, so throwing him a nasty glare would have to suffice.

'After all, it was his fault I got thrown out.' Jou thought irrationally as he slammed the door closed, causing the teacher to become more incensed with his behavior. 'Stupid Kaiba. How could I be dim-witted enough to actually save him? He could have died and that would be the end of my problems.'

Jou, now worn out with his actions, slid down the chalk white wall, his anger fading slowly. He pulled out his notebook, inspecting his handy work that had also contributed to the reason he was out here.

It appeared that he had some kind of war scene going on, a whole mass of little men holding crudely drawn knives above their heads, screaming at the opponent, a lone figure with a bow and arrow. Jou frowned. What was he thinking when he drew this?

"Art can sometimes reflect what you are feeling inside." A voice said above him. Jou jerked his head up, his eyes widening at who it was. Why was he here?

"So apparently, you feel as if you are against the world." Kaiba whispered softly, his cobalt blue eyes fixated on Jou's. "Or… you could just be lacking the brains to draw anything intelligent." The ice bled back into his words, throwing Jou off. He had been different, almost as if he was studying Jou instead of insulting him. But now he knew it was just another one of his twisted games.

"Kaiba!" He said angrily as he struggled to his feet, disliking the position they were in. "Why are you out here? Head become too swelled for anyone to see over?"

Kaiba burst into cold, hollow laughter and caused Jou to shudder. If he could pick one thing to get rid of about Kaiba, it would be his laugh. Never had he heard less amusement in a voice.

"Well, Mutt, I must say, you are certainly lacking on your insults." He said, a frosty smirk upon his face again. "I had expected better of you."

"Shut up!" Jou was already pissed about the incident in class and he didn't need Kaiba to rake him over the coals with his verbal abuse. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I don't. I was also thrown out by that bat of a teacher. She saw me grinning and took it for something else." Kaiba said calmly, gliding away from Jou like a shadow and settling himself across the hall. "It seems as if we're both in the same situation and I'm not in the least pleased about it. She'll be dismissed from the faculty soon, maybe tomorrow."

Jou stared at him, trying to comprehend what he had just said, before it hit him. "You're gonna get someone to fire her?"

A miniscule smile of hilarity found its way on Kaiba's lips. "Yes, I knew I should have simplified it for you. Too many words, so little brain cells."

Jou felt strong resentment surge up in his chest as he stared into Kaiba's piercing gaze, mustering up just enough resolve to keep from tearing his hair out. "Shut up!" Jou found that he said that a lot around Kaiba. "Keep your cruel personality to yourself and do the world some good."

Kaiba opened his mouth to reply to the puppy's demand, when he lost his balance. He had been quite dizzy throughout the day and had been precautious not to over exert himself incase something along the lines of this morning happened again. But it looked as if that wasn't enough. He fell back against the wall with a clunk, and wavered there, not trusting his remaining strength to move. Shutting his mouth, he cringed when he heard and felt his teeth clicking together. That would definitely be sore in the morning.

He looked back up at Jou, who had balled his fists, anger flashing in his honey colored eyes. He obviously hadn't noticed his predicament. Instead Jou's most likely objective was to come up with new and improved criticism. Kaiba winced as a fresh wave of nausea hit him and prepared to be berated until Jou's voice became hoarse. After all, he wouldn't be able to puncture his ego having lost all his strength.

But Jou did not say anything. He just continued to stand there, waiting for Kaiba to respond. That was the code that they had abided by since they began this rivalry. They would throw remarks back and forth until one became sick of the other and trudged off. That was how it was done.

Kaiba was silent though, not taking the chance to input his own two cents like normal. Why, Jou did not know. Yugi's words came back to him from earlier today. Maybe he just wanted to sit back and watch Jou blow up, go berserk and throw a tantrum. Maybe that's what he wanted. Well, he wasn't going to give it to him. Not today.

The silence was loud in Kaiba's ears. It seemed to buzz in his head, like a mad horde of flies. He could hear his sharp intakes of breath as he watched through a haze, like a grainy movie, how Jou just continued to stare at him. 'Why doesn't he snap back?' thought Kaiba, feeling himself slowly slip down the wall. 'Why is he just standing there?'

Fatigue from the meetings, school, and unventilated offices took its toll on Kaiba's body. He dug his fingernails into the plaster, trying frantically to keep himself from falling. Jou's face was no longer visible; his eyes had become so unfocused. He was a mere blob against a blank background, and rapidly dimming. Oh he was so tired. It felt like a heavy weight was put upon him, amplifying gravity and seeming to crush and crumble his shoulder blades. Why was he so damn tired? He wouldn't give in to these lenience requests for rest from his body. He still had stuff to do, important things on his agenda. But he was so tired…

He saw the blob move. Jou…he saw Jou getting closer. He was faintly aware that the floor had slipped out from under him and he was sinking towards it. He did not hear the bell ring, announcing to the students' delight that school was over. He did not see the people, streaming out of the classrooms, eager to get out of class, only to stop dead at the scene unfolding before them. He did not feel himself being lifted away from the wall.

All he heard was Jou's breath in his ear, all he saw was startled, toffee colored eyes staring into his own, all he felt was warm arms encircling his body, hands pressed against his back. And he wanted to stay there forever. He wanted to doze but he didn't want that new, foreign feeling and person to go. The blackness pulled at the corners of his eyes, whispering in his ear for him to come away with it.

"Don't…leave…me." He breathed out before he succumbed to the smothering blanket of sleep. Bliss overcame his senses as he drifted away, not noticing the tears that trickled down his pale face.

**End of Chapter 5**

**Author's notes: **_Yeesh, weird chapter. I wrote it while I was sick at home (And I still am) with the flu. I guess maybe I was trying to convey something to you people. I dunno. Tell me what you think. Does it seem really dumb or really good or…what? Drop in a review and inform me. Oh, and thank you soooooo much for those last ones. Helped me get well and over this damn flu bug. It even worked better than the crap (A.K.A. Tylenol) I was taking. Anyways, I think I have said it already but I'm gonna say it again. READ & REVIEW POR FAVOR! ;)_


	6. The dream

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right? _

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 6: The dream**

_The darkness surrounded him, making him feel weak and small. He stumbled blindly through it, his legs seeming to become frailer with each passing step. Fear clutched his heart with its iron grip and he couldn't hear anything except his own pulsing heartbeat. It was driving him insane. He called out, hoping that someone would answer, for he felt so alone. But only his echoes answered him and he immediately ceased his shouts. They only made him feel more solitary. _

_Finally, he saw through the overpowering blackness a shaft of light. It was dim though, like it was going to flicker out any second and he ran towards it, hoping to some superior force that it wouldn't. He lurched forward, making out a petite form crouched in the pool of illumination. Its dark hair falling over its shoulders and covering its face, making it impossible for him to see who it was. He ran faster, now sure that the person and the light would leave any minute. It was his only salvation; his only way depart this world of loneliness and gloom. _

_He staggered into the beam, the brightness stinging his skin. But he paid no heed. He had to get away. The figure. He needed that too, but he didn't know why. Not yet. _

_It was sitting in the middle, head bowed and hands folded in its lap. He tried to holler at it, but his voice was stuck in his throat. It seemed to hear anyways and lifted its head._

_It was Mokuba. _

_His face was stained with tears and ebony hair was matted to his forehead. Cuts and bruises blotched his arms and neck and he feebly started to sob. _

_Mokuba. _

_The light dimmed further around the boy, turning his agonized face into a mere shadow. He snapped out of his daze at seeing his little brother and sprinted to him, not wanting to lose the only thing he had. But even as he was rushing towards him, the child sunk further into the dark. _

_Mokuba. _

_He felt him slipping away. Felt it in the inner most walls of his heart. It was like a knife, slicing through his very being. _

"_MOKUBA!" _

_He finally screamed it, his throat threatening to tear, but he didn't really give a shit. _

"_MOKUBA!"_

_He reached him, his long strides paying off and grabbed Mokuba, drawing him into a hug. He buried his face in his plentiful hair, feeling the tears prickling at the back of his eyes. "I'm here, Mokuba. I'm here so please don't leave me."_

_But Mokuba's body felt thin and wispy. He looked down at him and saw to his horror that he was nearly transparent. He was fading away. _

_Mokuba._

_He looked up, his boyish face nearly gone, and his deep blue eyes stare into his pleadingly. They were full of sorrow and pain. "I waited for you, Niisama. I waited for you to become you again. I tried to help you but you pushed me away. You didn't want me. I loved you, Niisama, but you didn't love me. You abused my feelings and you made me feel useless."_

_Every word he spoke wrenched his soul and tore his spirit. He hadn't paid any attention or displayed any of the deep affection he had for him. He was right. As far as it goes, he really didn't love him like he should of._

"_I waited for you as long as I could. I stayed by your side, hoping that you would snap out of the person that our stepfather made you. I had faith in you for as long as I could."_

_Mokuba paled further. His head bent again, not facing his brother._

"_But I cannot stay any longer. I cannot live like this any more. I am so weary. I tried as long as I could but I have no more energy."_

_It hit him. Mokuba was going to leave him. He was not coming back. He had made his life too hard._

_No. No. No! NO! He tried to say it but he was voiceless. The words died in his mouth. He couldn't speak._

"_I loved you. And I still do. I'm sorry for leaving you but I need to move on. Goodbye, Niisama."_

_He clutched Mokuba, desperate to keep him. But he knew it was futile. Deep down he knew even if he didn't want to believe it. Mokuba's body disappeared completely like vapor, and he looked down at his empty hands, shock numbing his insides._

_Mokuba._

_He was gone. Gone. The word struck him in his most protected and unstable part of him. Gone. Mokuba was gone and it was his entire fault and his only. He was too stupid to see how much he was suffering. He was stupid. Stupid _

_The word brought him twisted pleasure. He was stupid. It rang true to him. Fit him. He was stupid._

_Sitting in the black abyss that had enveloped him again, Kaiba threw back his head and let out a howl of pain, sobbing for the lost of his brother as his echoes reverberated back at him, his only company. He was alone. Alone. _

_**-Hospital-**_

"…exhaustion, malnutrition, insomnia and possibly anemic. Your brother, I'm afraid, has not been taking care of himself. He has been working too many hours, not eating the correct foods or none at all, and because of this poor diet, he has low iron in his blood."

A rough, aged voice that was oddly soothing reached his ears. It was soft, and distant at first but became clearer.

"Is he going to be okay?"

A younger voice. Sounded like a child's. Mokuba! Intense, wonderful relief flooded his chest. Mokuba was not gone. He was here. Safe too. Happiness swelled in his cold heart.

Kaiba's elation was slightly diffused though as a tingling sensation spread throughout his body. He was coming back into the world.

"Well, if he takes the multi vitamin I prescribed, it will help with the anemia. But that alone is not going to be enough."

Kaiba tested his fingers, moving each one slightly up and down, ignoring the stinging. It felt like tiny weights were attached to them. Damn gravity.

"Why?"

Now his eyes. He cracked them open only to have raw bright light shock every fiber. He shut them quickly. Not yet.

"He must sleep more hours. I cannot stress how important this is to his recovery and health. If he continues to work himself like a slave, he'll never become better. He could possibly die."

He suddenly became aware of something that was embedded in his arm. Possibly an IV but he was wary nonetheless, he had lost his ability to trust long ago.

"N…no! He's my brother! He can't die!"

The voice of the man, the doctor, had lost its ability to calm him at once. He had alarmed his brother and he would pay. Dearly.

Kaiba opened his eyes again, determined to show them that he was awake. They throbbed, the blinding light needling into them, and begun to water. He closed them reluctantly and heaved a sigh. A+ for effort.

"It's okay, Mokuba. Your brother is too ornery to die. He's like a wart that won't go away. Or a barnacle"

The mutt! Kaiba bristled, a growling noise devolving at the back of his throat. Too bad he seemed to have lost his speech. But oh, once he was up again, he could snarl at him for talking like that. Why was he here anyways?

"Jonouchi! Don't talk about my brother that way!"

Kaiba heard the light tone in his voice and knew it was good-natured. The mutt had succeeded at cheering him up. Maybe he won't draw out his torture too long. Maybe.

"This is nothing to laugh about. It is a serious case and I highly urge you too let us keep him until we are sure that he is in good health. We care about each and every one of our patients, so don't joke about it."

'Care my ass!' Kaiba resisted the urge to roll his eyes knowing it would be pointless and excruciating. 'He is only after my money.'

Kaiba put double the effort into getting up. He needed to get his self together. He had many things to do and not very much time. He couldn't be wasting it here.

"Yeah, sure. If he weren't rich you would probably throw him out on his bum. And believe me, I wouldn't blame you."

"Jonouchi!"

Kaiba snorted. That was true all right. Though trust the puppy to say it so bluntly. He moved his arm, his skin whispering against the sheets, testing its ability and slid his eyes open a third time, finally being able to bear the fluorescent shine. He made out the actual fixture that had caused him all the hurt and the paneled ceiling. He stared at it for a few moments, taking in the fact that he could see, before moving his gaze to himself.

His arm was connected to a bulky, complicated apparatus as well as his stomach, lines running to and from it. He looked at them, dazed by the sight. Was he really that sick? He lifted his arm and examined all the tubes that protruded out of it, like snakes. They were definitely over reacting. Hospitals never failed to over react with him.

The talking had ceased and Kaiba looked up. The window that showed a nice bay view of the coral pink hall was void of people. Where had he taken them? He wanted to see his brother, dammit!

Taking hold of the pipes that were pumping drugs into him, Kaiba ripped them out, flinching slightly. He pulled all the pads of his chest and his heartbeat on the monitor went dead.

With massive exertion, Kaiba pushed himself into a sitting position and leaned on his elbows. He rested there panting, before swinging his legs over the side of the thin mattress. Now the hard part.

But before he could do anything more, a flock of nurses and orderlies flew in, all with stricken looks upon their faces. Equipment dangling in their hands, they gaped at Kaiba, caught in the act of escaping.

Kaiba sat there; momentarily stunned at the speed that they came in, when a voice broke the silence. "What happened? What's going on?"

The doctor, a man in his middle forties, pushed his way through, Mokuba and Jou by his side. He stopped, having same reaction as the others, before soaring into action. "MR. KAIBA!"

He rushed to him, trying to push him back down onto the bed. "You should be resting! You are not well!"

He grasped his arm, nearly dislodging it out of its socket, horrified at what he saw. "YOU RIPPED THEM OUT?"

Kaiba was not paying the slightest attention to the upset doctor, but rather to the people he came in with. Mokuba stood there, his eyes red from crying and nearly hanging off of Jou, who looked like he was struggling to get his brain to work.

And then Kaiba remembered why he was still bothering to survive, when Mokuba jumped onto the bed and into his arms screaming. "NIISAMA!"

The doctor nearly had a convulsion when Kaiba was thrown back, his little brother latched onto him. Mokuba squeezed him, cutting off most air supply, but he didn't mind. "Mokuba." His voice was coarse, like he hadn't spoken in years.

"Niisama, why did you do that? I thought you were going to die!" Mokuba bawled, clinging to him like a koala bear. The doctor found that it was a lost cause to try to interfere and shooed the nurses away, and after exhaling deeply, trailed behind.

After Mokuba had thoroughly wetted his shirt, he gently pried him off and looked into his eyes. "I'm sorry Mokuba for doing this to you. I should have paid more attention." He said gently, clearing his throat. "Are you okay?"

Mokuba looked disbelieving at him back. "Am I okay? Niisama, you're the one who looks like a zombie and is in the hospital!" He knitted his hands with Kaiba's and tears threatened to spill over again. "I thought you were going to die! If Jou hadn't saved you…"

Kaiba's head snapped up, eying the blonde critically, who was standing awkwardly in the doorway. He was about to remark when Mokuba jumped off him and intervened. "Oh no you don't. He saved your life and you have to at least be civil to him."

He stood between them, determined to stop one another from fighting, when a little nurse scurried in and whispered something in his ear.

Nodding solemnly, Mokuba allowed himself to be led away. "Be back soon, Niisama. I have to take care of some issues concerning health 'cause I know you'll throw away anything they give you." He looked back at him. "I want you to lay back down. You're sick and if you die, I'll go down to hell and beat the crap out of you."

Mokuba turned on his heel and left, his sneakers squeaking on the tiles in the hall, leaving a rather stunned Kaiba and Jou behind.

**End of Chapter 6**

**Author's notes: **_Sorry it took me so damn long to spit this chapter out. Being my age sucks because you get so sidetracked by school, family and people you hate. Ugh. It is longer this time but not necessarily better. I think my writing is somewhat primitive because of high school. It's not like I don't have ideas but rather I can't seem to get them to stay organized and in my head after seven hours of my geography teacher. Damn those slippery little devils. Plus my wonderful tired self, when I was finished last night, decided to hide my laptop and not tell my conscious self where it was. I'm having senior moments at this age and it's freaking me out. So, if you like it, great. Drop in a review and I'll be happy as a clam and it will be you who will keep me writing. If you don't, okay. Drop in a review and I'll be devastated for about five minutes, get over myself, and thoroughly appreciate you for being an honest, fearless reviewer that will help me improve my writing. If you hate it, all right then. Drop in a flame and I'll take it without getting pissed. I know you probably had a bad day or something and need to blow off some steam or you really do hate it. That means that you won't review again because you have no hope for my story. Goodbye. Anyways, I owe an enormous thank you to my last reviewers. I feel all giddy when I read them and want to jump around. I can barely restrain myself but know I should because, according to my counselor, I'm depressed and can't do stuff like that. Whatever. ;) READ AND REVIEW AND YOU'LL GET SOME...erm...STEW! _


	7. Water and oil

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 7: Water and oil**

The hush that hung between them was deafening. After Mokuba had departed, which bewildered Kaiba for a few seconds, Jou made to leave. But the CEO had stopped him before he could.

"Why are you here?"

It was a question that Jou couldn't answer like typical, for once. He couldn't make a snappy comeback or criticize him. This was not the time to do it, though he wished it were. So he had remained silent, hoping that he would just insult him like usual and they could get on with hating each other.

Kaiba slid off the bed and walked over to him. Keeping his mouth shut, Jou stood his ground, but he could feel the urge to run out the door tugging at his feet. His honey brown eyes met Kaiba's icy gaze in defiance and knew if he got any closer, he would lash out at him. But he stopped a foot away, glaring at Jou, his arms folded.

"I'll ask you again, Mutt. Why are you here?" His stare never left Jou as if he was scrutinizing him like some zoo animal. Jou felt the familiar fury rise in him and barked back.

"Well, what else could I do when you just up and collapsed in the hall? Ignore you? I am not like that!" Jou took several heaving breaths in order to compose himself.

Kaiba remained unruffled as if Jou outburst was expected and his cool voice sliced through the air. "I asked why are you here, Mutt, not why I'm here. I imagine they had to take me by ambulance. Did you go along with me? Why? Why are you in the hospital? Your responsibilities to help me, if you ever had any, ended at school. Why did you accompany me here?"

Jou balled his hands into fists, feeling his nails dig into the flesh. These were all very good questions. "I went with you because you wouldn't let go of me! You clamped onto me like some crab. Otherwise I would have never come with you!"

Kaiba stepped even closer and Jou could almost feel the distrust radiating off of him. "Well, they must have got me off you sometime. Why are you here right now?" He hissed, cerulean eyes narrowing. Jou did not back off though, he couldn't.

"I saw how miserable Mokuba was. He was crying as if he was sure you were going to die. I knew I couldn't leave him; he would probably do something drastic." Jou saw something flash in Kaiba's eyes. It was agony. And though it lasted for only a second, it showed that he was not a machine but human, a teenager, who was trying to deal with life like everybody else.

Kaiba backed up and covered his eyes, stressed out beyond belief. "Fine. I get it. Mokuba is fine now so I have no need for you. Go." He reached over, dismissing Jou like an annoying worker, and put on his jacket.

Jou stood there, the pity that he had for him had been replaced with anger in an instant. He felt himself cross the room over to Kaiba and grab him by the lapels of his coat, snarling in his face.

"Listen, I don't give a shit whether you die or not, in fact, sometimes I wish that you would drop dead. But Mokuba...he loves you, dammit! And here you are, killing yourself as if no one will miss you. He will! And he is a good kid. He has befriended me even after listening to you. He came to us when you got yourself stuck in that damn virtual game. He trusts Yugi and me and even Anzu while you stand there, not even taking the time to get to know us!"

Kaiba had frozen, taking in the fact that Jou was up in his face, lecturing him about his own brother. But he was getting over his shock quick and Jou knew he would pay. He really didn't care.

"You are so stupid. You're blind to that fact that you are making Mokuba pay over your own actions. I do not know how he stays by your side, through thick and thin like this."

Jou released Kaiba, but not withdrawing from where he stood. "You cannot just wave away people like they are nothing. I stayed here for Mokuba but I'm not about to slink off, deserting him. He deserves a better brother and you need to see that. Stop doing this to yourself!"

Kaiba snapped. He grabbed Jou, swinging him around and smashing him up against the wall. "You listen to me, Mutt. You know nothing, NOTHING, about what we have been through!" He spat into Jou's face. "I know what I have done to him. It is eating me alive that I cannot do the right things for him. He does deserve a better brother but your not the one who has the right to tell me that!"

Jou grabbed Kaiba's wrists and sunk his nails into them, twisting out of his grasp. He crumpled into a coughing heap on the floor and didn't move. But giving up was not an option.

Kaiba was caught off guard when Jou launched himself at him, growling. He was pushed back onto the bed, his wrists pinned down and tried to jerk away to no avail.

"STOP BEING SUCH A FUCKING HARD ASS!" He roared, mere inches away from Kaiba. "You're always ragging and griping about how we know nothing! I do know! I know how it is like to feel alone! I know how it is to have no one to go to when you are scared or troubled!" He sat there, breathing harshly, before something dawned on him.

Jou jumped off Kaiba as if he were burned, realizing how wrong the position they were in was, and stood at the foot of the bed. What had he done?

Kaiba sat up, gasping for breath, a lost look flitting across his features, before regaining the mask. "Go."

And this time Jou left, running like hell and not glancing back. He was afraid at what he might see and what might happen if he stayed.

He tore down the hall and into the lobby before reassuring himself that Kaiba was not chasing him and slowed down, walking by sick patients ready to be treated, acting as if nothing had happened. He just had to get out the door and to his apartment. Then he could work out what he had just gave away to Kaiba and maybe jump off a bridge in order to spare himself from the things the azure eyed teen would do to him if he ever saw him again.

Whistling a light tune to unravel the tight knot of uneasiness that had settled at the pit of his stomach, Jou neared the glass doors to his freedom. He almost made it when a hand grabbed his arm.

Jou shot about three feet in the air and kept from screaming by biting down on his tongue. A metallic taste filled his mouth and he whirled around, positive he'd see a seething Kaiba with a gun pointed straight at his head.

Mokuba's bemused face swung into view and Jou found himself weakly laughing, trying to stop his pounding heart. "Sorry about that. I thought you were someone else."

"Are you okay, Jonouchi?" Came Mokuba's reply, concern written across his face. "I'm sorry I startled you."

"No problem. I am just a little jumpy today, that's all." Jou's voice shook a little. He still hadn't gotten over that terrifying moment when he was sure he was dead, but his heart seemed to be slowing down. "What do you want?"

Mokuba looked down at the floor and a muffled reply came from beneath his curtains of hair. "Thank you for staying with me. I was really worried about my brother and you helped me to calm down."

Jou felt his heart melt and he ruffled Mokuba's locks. "Hey I'd do it anytime. Thank you for becoming my friend, despite what your brother says." He looked up at Jou and beamed.

"Great! Then you won't mind coming to live with us and help me with Niisama!" Mokuba grinned at him, as if requesting that Jou take care of his enemy was the most natural thing to do. He felt his heart drop somewhere between his feet.

"I...uh...think that's gonna be a problem, Mokuba." Jou said as kindly as he could, trying not to imagine how livid Kaiba would be if he knew that they were having this conversation.

"Why?" He chirped back. Ignorance is bliss. "We have a humongous house and you can pick any room you want. If your parents won't let you spend the night, you could just come after school everyday."

Mokuba hopefully looked at Jou and misread the look of distress. "It's not going to be hard. I just need someone to keep him eating and sleeping. I need someone to follow him around at school too."

This is going to be harsh. He hated bursting peoples' bubbles. "Mokuba. It's not a problem for me to spend the night 'n stuff." Attempting to ignore the glee that was glowing in Mokuba's eyes, he plunged on. "It's actually...your brother."

Mokuba's face deflated as if told that he was not going to Disney Land because there was no more room in the plane and Jou scrambled to finish his thought before he burst into tears. "We just don't get along. I know and have seen how he interacts with you but he well...he hates me." He struggled to find the right words that depicted the relationship between him and Kaiba. "We're...we're like water and oil. We don't mix well. We naturally oppose each other no matter how hard you stir us."

Bracing himself for however Mokuba reacted, Jou felt as if he'd rather deal with Kaiba than this. Why did things happen to him? He could be goofing around with Honda and Yugi right now in the game shop, laughing at Otogi's dirty jokes while Anzu sniffed in disapproval. Instead he was standing in a room full of coughing, sneezing, vomiting people and about to witness a child sob at his actions. It's funny how fate screws with you.

But Mokuba did not cry nor wail. He just drooped his head and mumbled in a dispirited voice. "Okay." And somehow, that was a whole lot worse. Jou could hear his heart ripping in two.

"Listen." He said in his best comforting tone. The one he used when Shizuka skinned her knee or broke her favorite toy. "I'm sorry for turning you down but I don't think that Kaiba would want to be in the same room with me right now."

Mokuba lifted his head, grayish-bluish orbs filled with unhappiness and Jou gave in with an exasperated sigh. He could not stand the puppy eyes. "Alright, here's what I'll do. I can give you my home number. If your brother collapses or something, tell the hospital first but, if I'm home, give me a call and I'll come with you."

He fished around in his backpack for a pen and paper and wrote down his number. Pressing it into Mokuba's hand, Jou said solemnly. "Only for emergences though, okay?"

Mokuba nodded, his mood seeming somewhat lightened and smiled. "Arigato, Jonouchi. You made me feel a lot better."

Jou smiled back and ruffled the boy's hair once again, before heading towards the doors. "See ya later, Mokuba."

"Hey Jonouchi! Do you want a ride?" Mokuba asked the number clutched in his hand like a prized possession.

Jou turned and shook his head. "Naw. I prefer to take the bus. Thanks anyways."

"Oh. Okay, bye!" Mokuba smirked at Jou's retreating back. Phase one complete. His plan was going perfect so far.

He turned and snapped, summoning a guard in an instant. "Get me the phone number for Domino high's board of directors. I need to discuss the curriculum for this next semester and want to request a few changes. Like, for instance, an unexpected project."

Mokuba breathed a sigh of relief when the guard whipped out his cell phone, muttering something indecipherable. He'd save his brother yet.

_**-Outside-**_

A cheerful smile on his face, Jou exited the building and made his way home, glad to be out of that hellhole. 'What a day.' He thought as he crossed a rather busy street to the bus stop on the other side. 'But hopefully that's all behind me now.' How wrong he was.

**End of Chapter 7**

**Author's notes: **_Whew! It seemed to take forever to write this chapter. I kept getting bothered by my brother again, this time about playing a game call Halo with him. I cannot understand how he thinks that I'm going to be nice to him when he breaks my train of thought. Anyways, thank you so much for my last reviews. I loved each and every one of them and hope to get lots more. Lol. I sound so greedy. Like I usually get around the holidays. :P I thought the title of this chapter was pretty clever (Yeah, sure.) but that's about it. Whatever. READ AND REVIEW!_


	8. Shaken locks

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 8: Shaken locks **

Jou reached over and slammed his alarm clock, shattering its cheap, plastic cover to pieces. 'Why does it go off on Saturdays and not when I really need it?' He groaned inwardly and rolled out of bed, shuddering as his feet hit the cold floor. Padding towards the kitchen, Jou smiled happily; sleep wearing off and looking forward to an actual breakfast. Maybe he could even head to Yugi's later.

Yawning, he lit the stove and was rummaging around in the fridge for some eggs when he heard the door shaking. Snapping up and nearly smacking his head against the fridge, Jou thoughts raced. 'Father isn't supposed to be home. He always is at the bar and whorehouse on the weekends, screwing around with his cronies. It can't be him; my weekend is ruined if it is. Why is he here?'

Grabbing the broom out of the corner, Jou crept to the chipped, wooden door and raised his weapon above his head. He was not going to let them in; free to do what they pleased on the only time he had relief from school. He had had a bad week and he wanted the weekend to make up for it. No fucking way he was going to let his father ruin it, since he had already ruined his life in general.

The person, whoever it was, was sure having a hard time unfastening the locks. The doorknob kept rattling and he could hear muted voices from the other side. Pressing his ear to the battered wood, Jou could barely make out two or three people whispering franticly. Young voices. He stepped back; a grin now plastered to his face, and unlocked the door.

Three guys fell heavily onto the stained carpet that covered the hall, shouting in surprise. Jou loomed over them, laughing as they sat up, hair mussed and groaning.

The shortest one, Yami, who was always so cool and composed, scrambled to his feet looking down at Otogi with contempt, who currently was trying to shove Honda off of him. "Pick locks my ass. We should have brought that slime, Bakura, who did this for a living."

Otogi, moaning and clutching his bruised head, grumbled. "It's not my fault Jonouchi lives like a New Yorker. He has so many damn locks."

"That's because I don't exactly live in the best neighborhood around and I need to keep the intruders out." Jou cut in, feigning annoyance. It seemed as if they has forgotten that it was his house they tried to break into.

That appeared to be the case, for Otogi's eyes widened and he stammered horribly, eyeing the broom that hung in forgotten in Jou's hands. "O...oh Jou! Sorry about waking you, we just…um…yeah."

Honda stood up, patting Otogi's shoulder and speaking in a rather laid-back tone. "It's cool. Jou won't get pissed."

He turned to him, whose facade of being angry was slipping. "We came to pick you up but didn't want to wake you. So we thought we'd let ourselves in."

"Well, you pulled that one off." Jou said voice laced with sarcasm, his face splitting into a smile. "I was already awake anyways but I don't see how I could sleep through all the racket you were making."

"This baka here boasted to us that he could pick _any_ lock and was a pro at breaking in. It seems as if he was wrong." Yami scowled, dusting imaginary dirt off his coat.

"I would have gotten it eventually. But I couldn't work with you jeering suggestions and breathing down my neck!" Otogi said, obviously offended.

"HA! I bet you couldn't break even into a simple peasants house. They don't even have doors!"

"Why you…"

"Guys! Please!" Honda interrupted the heated argument, rolling his eyes. "You're being stupid."

"HEY!"

"HEY!"

Otogi and Yami both rounded on Honda and thus began a three-way dispute.

Jou shook his head at the bickering teens and moved onward to more important things, like eggs.

_**-Later-**_

Jou entered his living room, dressed, showered and ready to go.

Otogi and Yami, who were still quarreling over the lock issue, remained by the doorway, faces flushed. Honda had given up trying to break it up and was sitting on Jou's soiled couch, watching T.V.

Slightly astonished that the argument has gone on this long, Jou thought aloud. "Are they ever going to stop?"

"Nah. Otogi's too proud and Yami still hasn't gotten over what he did to you when we first met him" Honda answered, switching off the tube and stretching. "It will probably go on all day if we don't stop them."

He came around the couch, stopping next to Jou and sighed. "Well, how do you suggest we break it up?"

Jou, who had been pondering this, smirked and grabbed Honda's arm, pulling him forward. "You push Otogi and I'll deal with Yami. All we have to do is get them out the door and down the stairs, right?"

"H…hai." Honda answered uncertainly, watching with discontent as the fight elevated before them. "On the count of three. One…two…three!"

Jou snatched Yami around the waist and threw him unceremoniously out the door while Honda shoved Otogi as hard as he could. They landed ungracefully on their asses in the middle of the hall, more stunned than injured. Jou, taking advantage of the momentary shock, hauled Yami up and dragged him down the stairs, hoping that Honda would follow suit.

"Sorry, Yami." Jou said apologetically, seeing the hurt look upon his face. "You guys would have never stopped and I want to go see Yugi."

Yami nodded, having understood, and smiled, removing his arm from Jou's grasp. "Ah, that is quite alright, Jonouchi, I deserved that. I seemed to have lost all logic for a moment there."

On good terms again, Jou and Yami chatted lightly as they headed out the door of the grimy apartment building and onto the street, a feathery breeze whispering though the trees.

It was only then that Jou noticed that Honda was not behind him. "Uh, where do you think Otogi and Honda ran off too?" Jou inquired, leaning against lamppost.

Yami frowned thoughtfully and gazed up at the cracked windows of the apartment. "Didn't he help with Otogi? Maybe they didn't fare as well as us."

He walked to the door again, going to go check, when Honda came hurling out of it, nearly killing Yami in the process. He landed on the sidewalk, wheezing and lurched to his feet. "Uh…hi guys. Sorry…that um…took so long and that I ran into you Yami. Tripped on the stairs."

Honda laughed, sounding strained, his face tinged pink. Jou gaped at him, before getting his act together. "Where's Otogi? What happened with you guys?"

Honda's face turned a hue of strawberry, his eyes widening and nearly toppled over. "Otogi…he's…uh…he's…RIGHT THERE!"

Jou jumped at Honda's outburst and jerked his head instinctively towards the door, seeing Otogi stepping out, his eyes shyly averted downward. What was going on?

Jou looked from one to another, the gears in his brain working overtime. "What is wrong with you two?"

"NOTHING!" They both yelled simultaneously, cheeks coloring when they realized they had and Jou and Yami gawked at them, confused as hungry babies in a topless bar. What…why…?

Jou suddenly didn't want to know what had happened in the short period of time they had been alone and assumed it was something that could be worked out later. Motioning to Yami that they should drop it, Jou turned to Otgoi and asked, "How did you get here?"

Otogi looked bewildered, as if had been removed from reality, and it took several seconds for him to process the question. "We…we…came by my…um…"

Yami looked incredulously at him, before finishing the sentence. "Otogi drove us here in his car."

He pointed to it parked by the curb, its teal paint gleaming in the pale sunlight, and began walking to it. "We should get going, Jonouchi, and you too Honda and Otogi, if you can manage to scrape you minds together."

They did, Otogi hopping in the driver's seat, uneasily glancing behind him as Honda climbed in, before starting the car. Jou slid into the passenger's seat, making a mental note to never leave Otogi and Honda unsupervised again, and leaned his head back, letting the gusts of wind carry all his worries away as they sped down the road.

**End of Chapter 8**

**Author's notes: **_Sorry. This is what I call a filler chapter. It had to be done but there was little to none action. Sorry. I hope the next one will be better and have Kaiba in it. WAH! I miss him…a lot…is that sad? Ahem, moving on. Thank you SOOOOOOO much for those lovely reviews. It's what keeps this story going. XD I love each and every one of them. It is hard to believe that I'm almost to the 100 mark and it's my first one! YAY! Only you peoples could make me lose my dignity like that. ;) Anywhoo, READ AND REVIEW PRETTY PLEASE! You guys are really awesome, but I must…not…let…my…head…swell X3. Otherwise I'll spew out more boring chapters like this. Ciao! _


	9. Sky juice

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary: **_Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 9: Sky juice **

The clouds obscured the sunlight, making cast just gentle, hoary rays upon Domino City. The morning sun had promised a bright, clear day when Jou had left his "home" and headed to Yugi's. But now it seemed that the weather had become depressed and wanted Domino to feel that as well. It streamed through the arcade window, though rapidly dimming along with the day, and down upon a rather frustrated blonde, all concentration on the small, Technicolor screen in front of him.

Jou had spent his last quarters trying, without much success, to beat the high score on Tekken II (1). Banging his fists on the battered machine in exasperation, Jou growled as he watched his guy/leopard get K.O.'d at the last level and earned a disapproving look from Yugi. Oh well.

They had decided, after much debating, that the arcade was where they were going to spend their free time. Yugi and Yami had wanted to go to another Duel Monsters convention but Ryou protested, saying that being in a place with things to steal wouldn't be good for Bakura. Honda said that they should head to this new amusement park downtown. Anzu whined that it was too big and they could get lost, sticking together was too important to jeopardize. Otogi suggested that they go to the movies, there was a new thriller out, but Bakura growled in response, saying it was too romantic. This made Otogi glow pink and he glanced furtively at Honda (2). In the end it was him who proposed that they go to the arcade, saying it was the only logical thing to do.

But now, Jou, who eagerly had waited in line to get in, was eager to get back to Yugi's house, wanting to just crash on the couch and watch a movie.

Fingers sore from jamming the buttons too hard, Jou wandered over to where Yugi sat in a small plastic booth, sipping his soda, and plopped down next to him. It had been a tiring ordeal of battling aliens, zombies, and other fantasy creatures that defied the laws of logic. Jou needed some rest, chow, and something for his parched throat, but how was he going to get it?

Arms laden with snacks, drinks, and candy was Otogi, Jou's new best friend as of now, who was balancing his cargo cautiously as he made his way from the counter. Dumping them hastily on the table, Otogi stood back while Jou dug in. "Never get between him and food" was another rule that had made it to Jou's list.

Grinning at Jou's enthusiasm, Yugi turned to Otogi, who had a gloomy, distant look on his face. Frowning in concern, he patted his arm lightly. "What's wrong, Otogi?"

Otogi snapped out of his thoughts and replaced his former look with false cheerfulness. It rang painfully in his voice. "Nothing, Yugi. I'm just drowsy."

Though not convinced, Yugi dropped the subject and smiled in response. It was best to let people talk to you when they wanted too.

Jou had finished inhaling his food and sighed in pleasure, sleepy yet content. He checked the gaudy clock that hung on the wall, its neon lit numbers showing five. He stretched and, yearning to go back, searched the arcade for the rest of his friends.

He spotted Ryou yanking Bakura away from a toddler who was in tears, obviously furious while Honda hovered behind, sniggering. Bakura, not knowing what he did wrong, had a confused expression and tried to input his explanation into Ryou's stream of preaching.

Jou sympathized with Ryou but couldn't help but be amused at the situation and waved his arms, catching their attention. He dragged Bakura over, who was still sputtering excuses and threats ("The kid was insulting to my presence and I am sure he is plotting something against us!" "I am a cold-blooded thief you know and could have your head on a stick if you don't unhand me!") but Ryou paid no heed.

"I think we should start heading back." A rather flustered Ryou stated bluntly, releasing Bakura but keeping a close eye on him. "He's getting out of hand."

Jou nodded, a yawn preventing him from talking momentarily, before responding. "We should find Yami and Anzu first. Do you know where they are, Yugi?"

Yugi shook his head and shrugged. "Yami went off to find you guys and I haven't seen him since. Anzu…well I dunno where she went."

Jou hadn't seen Anzu at all actually, except when she was scolding him at the front when he had pushed people around in the line, more like jostled really. She had gotten less enjoyable to be around lately. It was as if she was always aiming for something else and didn't care about her friends anymore. Which was ironic.

Ever since Yami had gotten his own body, Anzu went…different and was always following him. The fact that she had a "chance" with him went straight to her head. Jou missed her old, annoying yet sweet self and how she had always hung around them for…well them. Yugi seemed to have taken it badly too because he always has this uneasy look to him whenever she came around. He seemed to be thinking the same thing as Jou was; Anzu was probably going to be found with Yami. Oh joy.

"Alright then, let's split up and look for them. Ryou, you and Bakura go look for Anzu while Yugi and I search for Yami. Otogi and Honda…one of you look outside while the other waits here, okay?"

Otogi and Honda split up, rapidly making as much space as possible in between them. Jou was still baffled (3) as to why they were acting like this but thought it was best to just…let them figure it out.

Ryou lugged Bakura away, keeping his senses alert for Anzu, while the latter kept shouting protests as to why they had to look for this "whore." Jou was going to propose they start at the food area, since it was a cool place to start, but Yugi was already stomping towards the bathrooms. Surprised by his assertive behavior, Jou followed.

_**-Dinner party-**_

The babbling of the women annoyed him to the point that he thought he might just leave and give up hope. They were thin, wispy women with pallid hair and long, brittle necks. They sat in chairs crowded close to each other, twittering like birds, about him no doubt. Disgusting.

Smoke, its gray tendrils snaking around him, wafted over from beside him where a pudgy, bald man was, a number of rings on his hot dog sized fingers. He sat in the largest, most kitschy chair, tassels and red velvet that matched the tasteless imitation of a Victorian era room, smoking a cigar, it being supposedly the best in America. Japanese culture was not for him. He had made that clear when he had first met him.

Kaiba frowned in disdain. They were trying to break him, trying to make him believe because he was young and sinuous he was inexperienced. By offering him to smoke by the firelight, even though they knew he was under aged. By calling him "My boy" and other such youthful nicknames that jangled his nerves. It was a psychological game they played, hoping to out wit their competition. But they should know, Kaiba wasn't one to back down from a challenge.

"So, my boy, your corporation running smoothly?" The bald man, who's sur name was Johnson or something along those lines, asked Kaiba in a way a dad might ask his son how baseball practice was going.

Kaiba once again found himself wondering if it was worth all the trouble he had gone through to get here. Once Jou had left, he had gotten himself together and was leaving when the doctor had caught up with him, his brother along side him.

Mokuba absolutely refused to let his brother leave the hospitals care, though he had expected him too try to. The doctor and him had both tried to dissuade him from leaving, saying he needed more rest. Kaiba could only escape Mokuba's wrath by saying that he would take the rest of the day off, a promise that he would regret later.

This morning he had gone into the office at the break of dawn, much to Mokuba's fury, and was catching up on his missed work. That was when Johnson had called, his gruff voice requesting his attendance to another dinner party, seeing as that he couldn't make the first one.

So here he was, putting up with men that thought age equaled to wisdom and answering questions that veiled their true intentions. Although thinly.

"Yes, it is." He retorted smoothly, though inside he felt like throttling anything that spoke to him. "You?"

"Ah well, I suppose so." Johnson replied, snuffing the cigar out in a nearby ashtray. "Tons of work and it's hard to keep up with me getting into my years."

Kaiba observed the yellow, dying skin that hung of his jowls and how his stomach spilled over his belt. 'Maybe that's not all that's keeping you behind.'

A man maybe in his late forties, the first signs of silvery hair sprouting from his roots, leaned over and chuckled heartily. "Huh, I could never imagine you slowing down because of your age. You're an old, stubborn fart and we will never be rid of you until you're good and ready."

Johnson bellowed waves of laughter, his belly rolling to match it, and wiped the crinkled edges of his beady eyes. What an overreaction. He turned to Kaiba, who had kept his stony exterior, and began chortle again.

"Kaiba, my boy, laugh a little. You're too young to be this serious." He waved over a mousy haired girl who had been sitting with the other women, she was much younger though, and her bony figure scurried over to them.

"Yes Poppa?" She said, her frail voice shaking slightly, and she wrung her hands, intimated by all the men.

"Jane, I'd like you to meet Mr. Kaiba. I'm sure you will get along nicely, you being the same age and all." Johnson watched, like a hawk, as Jane took her seat across from Kaiba, who was trying not to imagine how they managed to have a kid at their age.

Was he expected to converse with this girl? She was weak and taught to respect men as gods. He felt great pity for her, since she was bound to become one of the gossiping women that sat in the corner, but he had no need for people who could only hinder him. He promptly ignored her and turned to Johnson, his cobalt blue eyes glittering in the flickering flames.

"Are we here to discuss the plans for the future or dawdle?" He sneered at the men, who seemed slightly taken aback.

Johnson recovered quickly, the stupid, superior grin on his face again, and sat back. "I guess we can confer about such matters over dinner, seeing as you don't seem to have a social life. Come now."

Kaiba felt himself growl in the back of his throat as he was lead into the dining room, the girl and the tittering women behind him.

_**-Kame game store-**_

The first thing Jou did when they got back to Yugi's place was crash headlong into the couch. It had been an draining day, fooling around at the arcade and stopping for something to eat on the way back, and all Jou wanted to do was lean back and watch some random movie, before heading home.

Yugi, Yami, Ryou, Bakura, Otogi, Honda, and Anzu all came slouching after him, giving Yugi's grandpa droopy hellos as filed by. Seeing Jou sprawled across the couch, the rest of the gang pitched themselves on chairs and the floor, all extremely weary.

"Well, do you think we should watch a movie?" Jou broke the silence, propping himself up and observing glossy, black screen of the T.V.

"If you get it, sure." Came Otogi's muffled reply, his face buried in a pillow. Honda had been careful to choose the opposite side of the room to collapse on and was grateful no one had commented on that.

"Fine. What to do want to watch?" Jou hoisted himself up from the cushiony couch and made his way to the cabinet that held all of Yugi's dvds. "How about…um…Alien Vs Predator (4)?

"Mmm, I don't care." Ryou responded, blinking sleepily. "As long as it doesn't give you-know-who any ideas."

Jou grinned at his reaction and popped the disk into the player, flinging himself back upon the couch. The weekend was turning out to be a very good one so far.

_**-Dinner party-**_

The weekend was turning out to be a very bad one so far. Kaiba was now seated next to that sliver of a girl, who was busy folding a napkin over and over and over…

Kaiba felt his attention slipping away from the conversation at hand and to that damn napkin. She just kept…folding it.

"Mr. Kaiba?"

Kaiba jerked his head up and caught most of the table staring at him. He disregarded them and turned to Johnson.

"What?"

Johnson had his plate piled with every course and, until now, was stuffing his face. Kind of like the puppy…except much less appealing.

"I was just wondering what your thoughts were on the merge between your two greatest competitors?" He simpered, though nobody except Kaiba seemed to catch the tone of his voice.

"I believe I will be able to handle it." He stated, clenching his fists under the satin tablecloth. When was it his business?

"Ah, well, if I was in your situation, I would be quite worried. But of course, you know better than all of us how to handle it, don't you?" The rest of the table gurgled in their cups and a shiver of aversion ran through Kaiba's body. Damn him…

Kaiba stood up from the table, nearly shocking Jane out of her seat, and left the dining room. He heard the gasps of surprise from behind him, but he didn't care, his only objective was to get home. Why he had come here was of no matter now.

He found his coat hanging limply on the rack, put it on, and grasped the brass handle of the large oak door.

The dizziness came without warning, shrouding his senses. The handle focused in and out, shining in the light, and Kaiba felt his world tip forward. This can't be happening…not now. Damn his pathetic, feeble body, he needed to get home.

Kaiba wrenched open the door and hurled himself out onto the doorstep. He was in no condition to drive, but what choice did he have? No way was he going to wait here for a ride.

Fumbling in his pocket for his keys, Kaiba unlocked the door to his car and slid into the seat. Groaning as another jolt of faintness hit him, he gripped the emergency brake, his knuckles turning white, before finally unlatching it.

The steering wheel being shadowed in the poor light, Kaiba wasn't sure if he could slide the damn key in. Shaking, he missed it over and over until it clicked, relief passing over him.

Turning it, Kaiba felt his apprehension greaten when the car came to life. Was he going to make it? Maybe he should just call for a ride…

'No, I won't. I cannot be weak like that.' Kaiba thought angrily. He pulled out of the gravel driveway and sped down the road, speedometer pushing fifty.

_**-Kame game store-**_

The movie faded to black and the credits began to roll. Jou yawned, feeling as if his face would split if he did anymore, and glanced around the room to see who was still awake.

Otogi, face still hidden by the pillow, was lightly snoring and occasionally shifting around. He mumbled something, rolled over clutching the pillow, and lay still again.

Honda was still awake, though barely, his head rested on the small coffee table and his bleary eyes were fixated on the credits.

Ryou was asleep, his head against Bakura's shoulder, who had lain back and was sorting in his doze.

Yugi was supporting his head with his hands, eyelids fluttering close only to snap open again while Yami, who looked fully conscious, gazed at him.

Anzu had faked drowsiness at the beginning and, on purpose, had tried to fall into Yami's lap. Yami had laid her down and covered her in a blanket before joining Yugi on the floor. She was forced to remain there, but did make it clear that she was disappointed.

Jou stood up, tiptoeing around the lumps of people and reached for his jacket. He looked back at the group and waved at Yami, who was now carrying a snoozing Yugi around the couch. Yami nodded, acknowledging that he was leaving, and went up the stairs to Yugi's room, his eyes full of affection. Honda was still facing the screen and Jou, who had figured he had fallen into some kind of coma, left without saying goodbye.

The crisp, night air rushed at Jou face and cleared his senses. He noticed it smelt slightly damp foretelling the coming of rain and he tightened his jacket around himself.

His feet clacking on the pavement, Jou began the walk back to his stuffy, grimy apartment. He knew Yugi wouldn't mind him sleeping over, but tomorrow was Sunday and that was cleaning day. Not much of a place to clean, but Jou always felt better when the apartment's aroma was slightly sweeter.

The pitter-patter of rain along with the wind soothed Jou's ears and was a nice break from Aliens smashing Predators, the beeping of the arcade games and other noises he had been subjected too.

The light shower sprinkled him and cooled his warm skin, refreshing Domino while at it. The swishing of the vegetation created a melody that harmonized with the drizzle of rainfall. Cars sunk into the background, the barking dogs diminishing to almost nothing. Thunder shook the earth and lightning danced across the sky. It was turning into a full-blown storm.

Jou felt energized by the rain. It rinsed the town of pollution and dampened the dust. Wild spirits came out during this time, raccoons, foxes, rabbits, things that would never venture out other than for food. The lightning created a show like nothing else; cracks of light that broke the murky layer of clouds. Thunder drummed and beat on the foundation of the heavens.

In the rain, Jou felt joyful, accepted, and unsoiled, so different from his normal inner attitude. He crossed the street, stepping flippantly, his heart soaring, and his face upturned, welcoming the drops of moisture.

Jou was so engrossed with the storm, he didn't see nor hear Kaiba's car, and stepped right in its path.

**End of Chapter 9**

**Explanations: **_(1) I absolutely despise this game. I was addicted to it and would get all the way to the last level…and die. Arrgh! Such memories! _

_(2) If you haven't figured out what is going on between them (though I believe I have made it painfully obvious) do not worry, I will soon explain…somehow. Don't ask me when since I don't have an outline. Too damn impatient._

_(3) Isn't he so cute when he's confused? That's our Jou, make something as clear as a sunny day and he'll still not see the big picture. ;p_

_(4) My brother chose this movie, though it's not even out on video yet, and I really don't know why. All I saw throughout the whole thing was tails and snow. Too dark and fast for my brain to process. _

**Author's notes: **_YAY! I fixed it all by myself! That's why I'm back so early. ;) Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter and even the damn note. XD I BROKE A HUNDRED! Well, not me really but still, I BROKE A HUNDRED! When I first saw it, I went parading around the house, yelling and making a complete ass out of myself. But you know what? I DON'T CARE 'CAUSE I BROKE A HUNDRED! Thank you soooo much! I am extremely ecstatic right now. :D Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. I tired to make it longer for delaying it so much. (Stupid laptop. I HATE IT! But I need it.) but I dunno if it's better. So if you can, READ AND REVIEW BECAUSE THIS STORY NEEDS YOU! _


	10. Déjà vu

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning: **_Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 10: Déjà vu **

The first thing he heard was the screeching of brakes. The shrill, high-pitched tone that hit your ears in just a way it made you shudder. The second thing was vivid, white light that carved through the dark and he half turned to it, baking it into his eyes. He was dead.

The car was coming too fast. The wheels spun and spun, they would never stop in time. Smoke sputtered out from them and the hazy smell of burning rubber filled the air. Jou stood there, a deer caught in headlights, frozen to the core.

The car turned, by some miracle it had torn out of its path, and jutted across the road diagonally. Watching in numb fascination, Jou saw the car revolve around and come to a halt at the side of the road, where it lay unmoving.

Jou, finally getting his muscles to respond, jogged to the car and jerked the door open. His stunned state had dissolved into fear. 'Is the driver okay? What just happened? I almost died!'

Thoughts running in circles, Jou groped blindly for the driver, his heart thumping madly. "Hey are you okay? Damn, I wasn't paying attention at all to where I was going and I just…never mind. I'm sorry. Hello?"

A hand grabbed his wrist, pushing him away, and Jou yelped as he felt himself hurtling onto the dewy grass the lined the street. 'What the…'

The driver unfolded himself, the headlights illuminating his features and Jou saw it was Kaiba.

'Kaiba…had…was…'

"YOU!" Jou jumped to his feet, his eyes wide like lamps and pointed at Kaiba. "What…how…why are you here!"

Kaiba, his eyes foggy and dull, didn't say a word. He had clutched the car door as if it was his lifeline. Perhaps it was.

Jou continued to stand there, rain splattering all around him, drenching his clothes and making them cling to his body.

'He looks like a lost puppy. Wait…that did not come out like it was supposed too.' Kaiba squeezed the door a last time before slamming it shut.

"MUTT! What were you _doing_ walking around in the dark like this? Do you know what could have _happened_ if I hit you?" Kaiba seethed, striding over to Jou, his eyes slowly regaining their power.

Jou felt unmistakable anger bubble up in him. It was Kaiba who had almost hit him, driving at such high speeds, and what was he doing out of the hospital? "You almost hit me, Moneybags! All I was doing was crossing the damn street!"

Kaiba's eyes flickered, feeling that familiar annoyance and exasperation boil up. "I would suggest watching where you are going instead of staring at the sky!"

He was tired, hungry, and now soaked, having gotten out of his car, and all he wanted to do was go home. But of course this had to happen.

"Oh yeah, well what are you doing out of the hospital? The last time I saw you, you were swooning all over high school!"

Kaiba grunted in response, crossing his arms in that high and mighty matter, and smirked down on him. "And you were catching me."

Jou snarled and gliding on the damp grass, closed the distance between them. "Shut up!"

Then, something happened that was never, ever, ever supposed to happen between him and Kaiba but had before. He was crossing the last few paces, wanting to get up in his face and strangle him, when he slipped on the mud that had formed with the rain.

He stumbled forward, waving his arms frantically, and into Kaiba. They plummeted downward and onto the flooded grass, where they lay, gasping for air, minds whirling in a panic to process what had just occurred.

Jou was aware of the rising and falling of Kaiba's chest, his heart beating in tempo along with it. His face was buried into the crook of Kaiba's neck and he could smell his scent. Cinnamon?

'Déjà vu.' Kaiba thought dimly as the fragrance of Jou tickled his nose. He could not believe in the course of two days he had been this close to the puppy five times. Since when had he become so clumsy?

He had to get up…now!

'But why?'

Just because! You are not supposed to be lying around with your enemy!

'Why not?'

Because he is your enemy, stupid!

'Why…why is he?'

Because…you made him your rival!

'Why?'

Because…just because…

Kaiba's inner turmoil was too much for him. He clasped Jou on the shoulders and heaved him off, pushing himself to his feet as well. Kaiba looked down upon the mutt, his thoughts still battling, confused, before striding to his car.

Jou's brain had been without sensation for the past thirty seconds and finally was coming to life. He sat up, mind screaming, and twisted his head around just in time to see Kaiba's car starting up.

'What just happened?'

It rang through the depths of his psyche, bouncing and clacking off the walls of his mentality, before resting at the bottom. "Kaiba."

But Kaiba did not hear, for he had driven off, his thoughts twisted into rings as well.

'What just happened?'

**End of Chapter 10**

**Author's notes: **_Oh what a day. I woke up feeling dandy yesterday. Well…if dandy means depressed and crabby. Anyways, I woke up feeling like myself, got dressed, went to school and in fifth period was suddenly struck by the harshest cold. ( I thought I already had a cold!) Sneezing, coughing, snot just oozing from my nose. I used up like, 4 million tissues, scared my friends to death, snapped at this guy (poor him) who didn't know what he did wrong. Nothing probably. So today, I woke up feeling like shit on a stick and stayed home, eating, sleeping, writing, and blowing my nose. I have to go in tomorrow, but in my comatose state, I wrote you this short but (hopefully) sweet chapter. I seem to get somewhat repetitive with my situations that I put Jou and Kaiba in, but it's almost like the only way, right now, that I can get them together. That is, until I incorporate the project and food. YAY! ;) So, READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! _


	11. Project of the damned

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 11: Project of the damned**

The clock rested silently by his side, incandescent numbers showing that it was three in the morning. Normally, Jou would be fast asleep right now, snoring happily away and enjoying the last moments of his weekend. But rest was not coming to him tonight.

Sighing, Jou threw off the covers and sat at the edge of the bed, head in hands, fingers knitted in his hair. When did things become so complicated? When did the hatred turn? When?

He stood up and went to his window, moonlight streaming in from behind the thin curtains. Parting them and letting the silver luminosity wash over him, Jou began to recount in his mind the details of when he last ran into Kaiba.

Why didn't he get up? Why did he just stay there? Why did he have that feeling that he was finally complete? That the missing piece to his life had been fitted in when he was lying amongst the tender blades of grass with his long time rival, his cinnamon scent filling his senses? Why?

He should be able to dismiss the incident with the wave of his hand and the snort of derision like usual. He shouldn't be standing here, conscious and alert, reminiscing about his enemy. He should be out cold jumbled in a nest of bed sheets, dreaming about food. Why was this happening?

Jou looked up into the snowy glow of the moon, thinking of how icy and distant it was. 'Kind of like him…' He shut the drapes with a swish of cloth and turned away.

'Tomorrow will be better. The sun will come up and I'll go back to my friends and forget all about stupid Kaiba. I won't have to be with him anymore and will go out of my way to avoid him. He is nothing to me.'

With that thought branded into his mind, Jou fell back upon the pillows, determined to get some sleep. When he finally began slipping away from reality, he couldn't help but feeling an intense sense of sorrow tugging at his heart, but refused to connect it with its origins. He hated Kaiba and he didn't have to ever interact with him again once he was with his friends. He would be joyful again.

Then why was he not feeling as happy about that thought as he should?

_**-Morning-**_

With the morning passing by in one big blur, Jou almost forgot the reasons that he was incredibly tired and sad that morning. But once he entered the school gates and turned to see a familiar mop of russet brown hair ducking into a classroom, it all came rushing back to him.

He now sat in his first period, the teacher rattling on and on, struggling to stay awake and a frown plastered to his face. He was dipping in and out of the ocean of slumber, eyelids becoming increasingly heavier with each passing moment. 'Damn you Kaiba.'

A loud, sharp noise jerked him out of his comatose state and Jou looked up to see that the teacher has snapped her pointer in two.

"Now class, will you listen to me?" An evil sort of smile was stapled onto her mouth, causing many students to exchange uneasy glances with on another. 'What is wrong with her?'

"Mister Jonouchi! Please define a closure. Specifically as an essay term." She chose an easy target, one who was obviously not paying much consideration to her. "Now would me nice time, Jonouchi."

"Uh…I…um…"

"Wrong answer. I'm afraid that you'll be spending detention with me if you continue to ignore this class." She turned back to the board, leaving a fuming Jou to sulk. 'Bitch.'

"Well class, our time is almost up but I want you to leave here with a better understanding that if you…" Her voice faded once again and Jou, eyes glazed over, stared fuzzily at the board. Man was he tired.

_**-Lunch-**_

Jou sat, nearly nodding off in his uneaten lunch, while his friends worriedly gaped at him. Jou never ever did this.

"Jou?" Asked Yugi tentatively, prodding him gently on the shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Hmmm?" He groaned as he looked at Yugi, who was now even more concerned. "Um, what'd you say?"

"Jou, I asked if you're alright. You've been really quiet and not paying much attention in class. Are you sick or something?"

He focused on Yugi for a moment, whose brow was furrowed and was tugging at his bangs, a habit that he did when he was anxious. Yami gently pried his fingers loose of the limp piece of hair and set his hand on the table.

"Um, no Yugi, I'm not sick. Just exhausted from the cleaning I did the previous day."

Jou looked down at his unharmed food, which would have normally been in his stomach right now, and felt his appetite diminish further.

"Well…okay."

Yugi, slightly hurt that Jou wasn't sharing whatever was on his mind with him, turned back to eating. The silence engulfed the normally raucous group, but since Otogi and Honda weren't talking anymore and Jou was acting weird, no one broke it.

Jou mulled over his thoughts again, dreading the next period.

'Kaiba will be there. He will come over and berate me like usual, but it won't be the same. At least not for me.'

He so buried in his thoughts that he didn't notice the bell ring and Yugi shook him, depressed even further now.

_**-Last period-**_

Jou drug his feet into his "favorite" class and took his seat. The CEO still wasn't here and he felt hope swell up in him. Maybe he was absent.

Anzu came skipping by, taking her usual seat next to Yami and Yugi while Ryou and Bakura settled themselves behind him. Maybe, just maybe…

Most of the class had settled themselves in their chairs and were pulling out folders and such, Jou exclaiming brightly that he was feeling better and making Yugi smile. The bell would ring any moment now…

"BAM!"

The door flew open and revealing a very pissed off Kaiba standing menacingly in the entrance.

'Oh fuck.'

Jou moaned inwardly and felt his spirits sink to the floor. Why? WHY?

Kaiba strode down between the rows and slid into his seat just when the bell rang, but not before fixing Jou with an arctic, sapphire glare.

Jou returned it, feeling all the confusion turn into anger and grit his teeth. Why couldn't he just go and die somewhere?

"I see you haven't been chasing anymore cars, Mutt. Good job." Kaiba sneered as he pulled out his supplies.

"Shove it up your ass, Kaiba. I'm not in the mood."

Kaiba only smirked, sending Jou into a near fury.

"Good afternoon class!" Came an abnormally chipper greeting from his teacher, interrupting conversations and fights. "Today we will be starting a project. It seems as if the board of directors has finally listened to my requests of how important it is for children to get along well and they have issued a mandatory friendship assignment!"

Only one person squealed amongst the groans of protest. Anzu.

"Well I'm glad at least _one _person sees how this might be a great opportunity for you to make new friends. I have chosen and paired up people who are in definite need of the power of friendship."

Anzu was in tears of happiness but Jou began to have a minor panic attack. 'Oh no. Please no!'

"Our first pair will be Otogi and Honda. I've noticed you have been drifting apart from each other and this may resolve it."

Otogi looked horrified and Honda let his head hit the desk.

"Second pair will be Ryou and Anzu. Part of the same posse, but you still need to get to know each other."

Bakura threw a nasty glare at the teacher while Ryou eyed a now fuming Anzu. She had wanted to be paired with Yami.

"Third pair will be Bakura and Yami. I've noticed you haven't become the greatest of friends."

Yami tightened his grip around the puzzle while Bakura became rather agitated.

"Fourth pair will be Yugi and Bunzo. I hope you learn to work together."

Bunzo was the class bully and was cracking his knuckles while Yugi gulped.

"Fifth pair will be Kaiba and Jonouchi-"

"NO!"

Both Jou and Kaiba jumped out of their seats at the same time.

"I can't work with that thing!"

"How low can you go, pairing me with an imbecile like _him_?"

"BOTH OF YOU!" The teacher interrupted, face flushed. "I am the teacher and you will obey me! Now sit down!"

They remained unmoving, irate and infuriated while the teacher bloated to a frightening size.

"NOW!"

Both reluctantly sat back down, though Kaiba looked to kill.

"Anyways, in order in avoid an incident like that again, I will leave the list up here and go outside. By the time I get back you better be sitting by your partner or you will pay. No bribery or threats will get you out of this one Kaiba. I couldn't change the pairs even if I wanted too."

She left while the class ambled around, murmuring quietly and finding their seats.

Jou pitched his crap onto the desk next to Kaiba, heartbeat pulsing in his ears.

'Fucking bitch of a teacher. I HATE HER GUTS!'

He plopped himself down, scooting as far away as he could from Kaiba, and faced the opposite direction. He could literally hear Kaiba grinding his teeth when the teacher floated back in and situated herself at the class's front.

"Alright then. It looks like everyone has found his or her seats and I can begin handing out the rules, goals and assignments that go along with this project."

She handed the papers around and Jou read it with growing dread. 'No fucking way.'

_Friendship Project_

_Rules:_

_Rule number one: All assignments that will be handed out by the teacher throughout the month will be completed without any skirmishes between the partners._

_Rule number two: One partner, preferably the one better off financially, will have the other partner spend the entire month at their house. Supplies will be gathered after school today._

_Rule number three: If fighting or any other disagreements occur, the over all grade will be deducted accordingly and the partners will spend detention together._

_Rule number four: Lunch must be spent together with the partner as well as any other school activities._

_Rule number five: This counts as a major part of your grade so if you disobey the teacher or anybody else; you will be jeopardizing your school report and may lose certain privileges._

_Goals:_

_To have assigned partners become better friends._

_To create a better learning environment._

_To solve certain problems with your relationship with your partner._

_To complete the project without any major fights._

_To become a better person._

_First assignment:_

_This will be your first night staying at your partner's house and all you need to do is get to know each other. Watch a movie or play a game. All that matters is that you begin to get comfortable in each other's presence, for you will be spending a lot of time together. Write a one-page paper on what you and your partner did. Must relate to each other. _

Jou sat there, hands gripping the paper so tightly that creases were beginning to form at the edges.

'This is going to be one long fucking month.'

**End of Chapter 11**

**Author's notes: **_I'm incredibly sorry that this took so long to get out but a series of events prevented me from updating. Stupid family. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I spent a whole damn night writing it and falling asleep in science the next day. See how much I am devoted to this? Lmao. It's 'cause I got nothing else to do. :P So, READ AND REVIEW! What a week… _


	12. Dying bleached butterflies

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 12: Dying bleached butterflies **

Jou lay face down on his bed, breathing in its scent one last time and praying that he would live to smell it again. Having gotten over the initial shock of what the project was going to require, they spent the rest of the period bickering about insignificant things until Kaiba, exasperated, told him to be ready by eight. So now Jou had his face buried into his pillow, already missing home.

"Ah, why does the world hate me?" Jou grumbled as he heaved himself off and began packing. Shoes, shirts, and pants were all thrown into a jumble at the bottom of a suitcase and toiletries were gathered from the bathroom.

Jou looked at the measly pile and shook his head. Just wait until Kaiba saw his possessions. He'd never hear the end of it.

Sighing he arranged them into a somewhat neat pile and slammed the lid closed, setting it by his doorway as he passed by. He went into his kitchen; olive patterned tile glaring accusingly up at him in the cheap, yellow light, and began making food. As the steam gathered around him from the cooking rice, Jou's mind began to wander.

He was going to Kaiba's.

It was so surreal he felt like he was watching a movie. A really, really, horrible movie.

After what had happened in the last few days, he was going to be around the one person who he wanted to avoid most. The one person he had confused feelings for lately. The one person who seemed to have he wanted to be close to, but far away from as well.

Why was this happening? Why couldn't fate just be nice? Why?

'Maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe we'll get along.'

Jou hissed in pain as his hand fell against the sweltering pot and lurched towards the sink cursing, cold water offering little relief.

'Yeah. And maybe hell will freeze over and pigs will sprout wings while Kaiba and I skip hand in hand across a flowery meadow. Get real Jou.'

As he nursed himself, griping to nobody about how much it hurt, a certain brunette was making his way across town.

Kaiba was shredding a random paper, scraps fluttering around his feet like dying bleached butterflies, streetlights occasionally revealing his face. His hair lie smooth and unruffled. His frown flat and icy. But his eyes revealed the true emotion that he felt, a rare thing for Kaiba.

They showed that he was nervous and distressed. That his outlook on the blonde had changed, albeit slightly, but still had altered. That he was going to have a hell of a time keeping his bitter exterior and that he couldn't turn away like usual. That he'd have to interact with a person. A talent he had long since given up. He preferred the computer, impassive and calculated like himself and his brother was the only exception.

But Jou…

"Mr. Kaiba, we're here." Came the drawling voice of his driver, cracking his musing and he put his usual manner into place again.

"Fine." He stepped out into the street after ordering the driver to clean up the car and stared up at the filthy apartment building, azure eyes flicking from a passed out drunk to a whore watching him.

'This is where he lives?' Kaiba thought derisively as he walked to the shabby doors, ignoring the whore's passes. The bulb above him buzzed annoyingly as he studied Jou's scrawl from a note he had been given in the flickering light, before heading inside.

'Third floor on the end, number 301.' He took the stairs, an old lady in a fading nightgown glaring at him from her door as he stomped by. The uneasy feelings had settled into the pit of his stomach and Kaiba felt like turning back until he finally reached it. It had a torn sign stating that it was Jonouchi's place and Kaiba took in a deep breath before rapping on the door.

"Uh…wait! Hold on a sec!" A series of crashes ensued this muffled call and Kaiba found himself fighting down a smirk. 'The mutt is so damn clumsy.'

The disheveled blonde wrenched open the door and Kaiba caught a glimpse of the worn out room behind him before Jou slammed it shut.

"Mutt…though I would rather be rotting in hell, I have to come in." Kaiba said through the door, clenching his jaw. Was he that bad?

Jou opened it again, glowering, and mumbled. "Sorry. Natural instinct. When my worst enemy shows up on my doorstep, I tend to get hostile."

Kaiba pushed past him. "Hmmm, just like a dog. So territorial." He watched in satisfaction as Jou bristled.

"Shut up! I don't need your stupid insults. It's already bad enough that I have to go to your damn house." He shut the door and turned to Kaiba, who was examining his living conditions.

"Go ahead, say what you want. I'll be over there getting my stuff." Leaving abruptly, Jou trudged to his room, Kaiba having to abstain from following him. 'I'm not that eager…'

Bored and curious, Kaiba poked around the room, wanting to know how Jou lived. He thumbed through some mail, mostly bills and discarded them without interest, flipped through a book, and avoiding what looked like three-day-old food that rested on the table. It seemed somewhat normal around here, though the place had probably seen better days.

Coming to the TV, Kaiba stopped. Dusty and out of date, photo frames cluttered the top, holding precious memories. He picked one up and brushed off the layer of dust that had settled on the glass.

A little girl with thick auburn hair was beaming out at him, a dripping ice cream cone clutched in her hand. She must have been four or five, the roller coaster in the background revealing that it was taken at some theme park and beside her was a boy with familiar locks of golden hair that spilled all over the place.

'The mutt…' Kaiba picked up another, the girl once again in the picture, though much older and bandages were wrapped around her eyes.

'That must be his sister.' She was smiling softly, cheeks rosy from the cold, since it was snowing. Jou had his hand wrapped around hers and was giving her bunny ears. He was grinning also, eyes full of laughter, hair tangled and covered in powdery snow.

'He looks so happy.' Kaiba felt his stomach lurch and set down the picture. His thoughts were trailing off but one wavered undying in his head.

'He looks cute…'

"What are you doing?"

Kaiba whirled around to meet Jou's caramel colored eyes. 'How long had he been there?'

"Nothing. Let's go." He marched past a baffled Jou and out the door, afraid that he might see the light blush staining his cheeks.

'What's up with him?' Thought Jou as he gripped his bags and headed out after him, struggling to catch up.

Kaiba robotically descended down the steps, hearing Jou clamoring after him and felt an insult pushing its way into his mouth and past his teeth, its acidic taste stinging him. He bit it back.

They silently made their way to the car, the crickets chirping and stars winking in the sky and the cratered moon shone upon them. Jou remembered last night when he had stood by his window like some lovesick fool and nearly dropped his bags.

'Not the time for those thoughts, idiot.'

"Get in." Kaiba stated bluntly, snapping his fingers for the driver to load up Jou's bags. "I don't have all night."

Jou, who hadn't realized they had gotten to the car, grumbled and climbed in, Kaiba following him.

The door shut and they were engulfed in darkness, hearing the muffled grunts of pain as the driver struggled with his bags and Jou became very aware of the teen next to him. His breathing. His fragrance. He fought the urges to reach across to him, though just barely.

Kaiba shifted, uncomfortable, and flicked on a light so they could see. The hush remained though and he tried not to think of Jou and how his tousled hair looked irresistible, lustrous in the illumination.

'Damn hormones.'

Instead he focused on the moon, watching its silver glow warp even the simplest things into gnarled pieces of art. A cat's shadow cast upon the hall looked like a tiger, crouched and ready to spring after its prey. Trees appeared as hunched giants, waving their thick arms in triumph. The floozy, with her jutting hip and pout, even became interesting, like a witch looming, waiting for unsuspecting children to fall into her trap.

The chauffeur started the car up, causing the car to lurch, and Kaiba was thrown against the glass, a dull thud resonating.

He turned towards Jou, who was sneering at him, and scowled. "Stupid mutt."

"Don't call me that!" He snarled, looking as if to leap out of the car. "I'm not a dog."

Kaiba just smirked, causing Jou to become more infuriated. He huffed and faced the other way, determined to avoid that damn leer of his. 'How the hell are we going to survive this?'

**End of Chapter 12**

**Author's notes: **_I must apologize for this being so late but so many things have happened in that space of time. School has become more demanding and so it is really hard for me to write during the week. I would have gotten this out during the last weekend, since it is easier for me to think, but it was my brother's birthday and I had to chaperone five hyperactive boys all weekend long. I was so tired. . Then, this week some issues sprang up between my stepfather and me, which delayed this chapter even further. I must admit, it was extremely hard to write this one and I would have made it both longer plus more interesting, but I have to baby-sit my brother since my parents are out of town. He is probably destroying the house as I speak. And on top this wonderful package of evilness, the computer is being taken away and replaced with a home system and I have the happy task of transferring all my crap from this one to the other. ARRGH! Anyways, I thank you for my reviews (they helped me to write) and I have to go distribute some myself since I've only been on this site like twice in these past few weeks. Thanks so much for waiting also and don't forget to READ AND REVIEW BECAUSE…I DUNNO, JUST BECAUSE! . P.S. Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes. I'm way too tired to check thoroughly right now. _


	13. Sun kissed

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning: **_Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 13: Sun kissed**

Mokuba swung his lengthy ebony mane out of his face and studied the math problem before him, his brow furrowed in concentration. It wasn't long until he saw the strands of hair creeping into his vision again and he irritably blew them away, only to have them fly back down, tickling his nose.

'Maybe I can convince Seto to let me cut my hair.' Mokuba thought petulantly as he went to his room to get a hair tie. 'Or I'll do it myself.'

He smirked slightly at the thought of his brother, remembering his mood when he had gotten home after school. Shutting himself up in his office and offering no explanation to his brother, Seto did not come down at all.

Pawing through a drawer, Mokuba let out a little chuckle and pulled out a black band. 'It won't be long before Jou gets here, then the real fun begins.'

His brother was smart enough to bring him so late, thinking that he would be too tired to react much. But little did Seto know, this was his whole idea and he wouldn't miss it for the world.

He pulled back the silky tresses, smoothing over the bumps, and tied it into place. It was took all his will power to remain innocent and not ask questions. Just innocent little Mokuba, eating dinner, doing his homework and not suspecting a thing. Yeah right.

The door downstairs opened, its well-oiled hinges not making a creak, but Mokuba's trained ear could hear it nonetheless. He turned towards the mirror, grinning at his childish reflection, and bounded out the door. It's show time.

_**-Front door-**_

Kaiba grabbed Jou by the arm, his grasp paining him, and began to lead him into the house.

"Kaiba what-"

"Shut up. I don't want Mokuba to hear us. Though knowing him, he already has."

Kaiba continued to grip his arm, dragging him as Jou struggled to keep his balance and hold on his bags.

"Hey. You're hurting me." Jou hissed after Kaiba had tightened his grasp, and tried to wrench his arm away.

"Shut-"

"NIISAMA!"

Something was catapulted into Kaiba's chest, throwing him into Jou.

"Arrgh!"

Kaiba staggered back, releasing his hold and fought to keep his poise. The ball of fur- no…_hair_ clung to him before jumping off.

"You're back!"

Mokuba beamed at his brother, who was slightly rumpled from his recent attack until his eyes fell on Jou.

"Mokuba-" Kaiba started but didn't get a chance when the younger Kaiba hurled himself at Jou as well.

"JONOUCHI! What are you doing here?" Mokuba yelled in glee, crashing into Jou's chest and completely knocking the wind out of him.

"Ah…" Was all he got out, before he broke into a fit of coughing while Kaiba pried Mokuba off.

"Mokuba. What are you doing up?" Kaiba insipidly asked as Jou took deep gasping breaths.

"I wasn't tired. But enough about that. Why is Jou here? Are you two friends? More than friends? Is he gonna stay here? For how long? Forever? Can he play with me? Can we go swimming? What can we do? Come on, Seto, tell me!" Mokuba said this in one breath, talking a mile a minute. Jou couldn't keep up.

But Kaiba had. "He is here because our teacher assigned us a project. No. NO! Yes, for a MONTH ONLY! No. No. No. And you're going to finish your homework then sleep while we start the project. I hoped that answered your questions, now off you go."

Kaiba picked a protesting Mokuba, slung him over his shoulder, and hauled him up the stairs, leaving a perplexed Jou alone.

'Mokuba little too hyper for me.' Jou noted as he eased down his bags and stretched. 'But if he hangs around to keep Kaiba pleasant, not only will I have a witness if I get murdered but a distraction as well.'

He glanced around the tidy, modern style room, and after finding it devoid of anything worth screwing around with, leaned against the banister.

'His house is sure big enough. I wonder if he ever gets lonely around here. Hell, what am I thinking? He likes to be alone.'

Yawning, Jou let his eyes rest, past few events having drained him, and slipped further down the rail until he was slumped against it, dozing.

_**-Mokuba's room-**_

"I want you to finish these problems up then go to sleep. You have school tomorrow and I don't want you to be late." Kaiba stated calmly, tossing Mokuba on the bed and waving the math sheet at him.

Mokuba frowned but reply dutifully, "Yes Seto."

Kaiba turned towards him, smiling softly and ruffled his hair. "Don't look so down. Tomorrow, I'll let you play with that…mutt, though I have no clue how you have befriended that scoundrel." He finished with a scowl, as though something really disgusting was in his mouth.

Now it was Mokuba's turn to smile. "He's not a mutt, Seto, just a really cute puppy. I know you like him."

"WHAT!" Kaiba yelled, his eyes widening. "Why you…" He lunged at him, snarling.

Mokuba laughed, jumped off the bed to escape his brother wrath. "Ahh! Seto! You wouldn't kill your only brother!"

"No. But that does not stop me from grounding you." He growled, easily cornering and catching him.

Sighing, he threw him back on the bed. "What am I going to do with you?"

"You could forget about my curfew and let me play with Jou." Mokuba said in his best angelic voice.

"Huh, fat chance. Now get started or you will get no desserts for a week." Kaiba smirked at Mokuba's newfound enthusiasm towards his homework and turned away, bidding goodnight.

He found the deadly silence odd since he was sure Jou would have already found the entertainment room. His reason was soon made clear at the foot of the stairs.

"Mutt…"

Jou was in a deep slumber, snoring lightly and making his sun kissed hair flutter and fall against his peach white skin. It was as if he was looking at a beautifully serene lake, its glossy surface mirroring the sky, an image of perfect peace. You could stand there, in awe of its tranquility, or you could dip yourself into its cool water, shattering the stillness.

Kaiba stood there, soaking in the simple pleasure it gave him to see Jou with his trap shut and his guard down. It was rare to see him without his mouth going off, spewing insults at him, his eyes flaring with intense detest. But now he was the real Jou. Not the go-lucky hotheaded, fighter that he pretended to be, but unaware and very vulnerable.

Before he knew what he was doing, Seto was leaning down towards Katsuya, the urges becoming too much. His mind sent off warning signals, asking what the hell was he doing and begging him to stop, but he paid no notice. He was drunk in Katsuya's scent, his warmth, and that sent him forward, pushing him on.

Seto snaked his hand into the tangles of Katuya's hair, turning his face upwards, so close he could feel Katsuya's breath and could count every lash. Halting, inches from his face, he became unwavering and unsure, until the last protest of his sane side was drowned out and pressed his lips against the soft petals of Katusya's.

The effect was electrifying, shocking every fiber of Seto's mentality. There was a freezing burn to it, addicting and throwing his whole sense of reality off. It was the missing piece. It was what he had been yearning for. He needed it.

Kaiba jerked his head back, horrified at what he had done and wiped his mouth with a tearing vigor.

Miraculously, Jou had remained asleep throughout the ordeal and only had just begun to stir; his eyes flickering open to see Kaiba's receding back.

'What the-?'

He propped himself up, confused at the rate at which Kaiba was leaving and called out.

"Kaiba? What the hell happened?"

He did not stop nor turn back at Jou's query. He had to get away, far away before it was too late and he wouldn't be able to leave.

"Oy! KAIBA! Where am I going to sleep!"

Jou rose up, refreshed from the nap, but still mystified by Kaiba's behavior.

'What could have possibly happened in that short space of time?'

**End of Chapter 13**

**Author's notes: **_THERE! I finally made them kiss! Phew, that took FOREVER to write. I kept redoing it, trying to make it better, but I'm sorry to say that this is the best I could do. Anyways, the week was easier and I think I may get back into my old tempo. Though that is not a promise. Thank you for my reviews. You people are extremely patient with me- Whoa, while I was writing this, the whole computer just…shut down. I was like NOOOOO! And then it came back up! Joy! Alright then. O.o Thanks for my reviews (though I believe I said that already) and I really appreciate you for waiting. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and when you are done, could you please drop in a review? Pretty please with a cherry on top? I need to know how you fell about this mass of words and letters. Thanks._


	14. Searching

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning: **_Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 14: Searching**

_It smelled of spices and sweets, the aroma filling every corner of the cozy house. Flowers decorated the garden and spilled over the boxes that had been set on the windowsills while a breeze blew the snow-white curtains. Spring had sprung and birds made sure that this was known in their musical songs that added life to the world. _

_His mother held a swaddle of blankets with her delicate hands, cooing softly while the sunlight fell upon her. The rocking chair she sat in creaked softly, her cinnamon brown curls shining in the sun. He stood in the doorway, watching her. _

_Her eyes, bright blue like a cloudless summer sky, lit up when her soft gaze found him and she smiled tenderly._

"_Come." Her singsong voice beckoned him. "Come see what wonderful gift I have."_

_She held the bundle out to him as he toddled over, setting it gently in his arms. It was warm and heavier than he had expected. He looked between the folds of cloth and found the wrinkled, rose pink face of a baby; eyes seemingly glued shut and wisps of raven black hair littered its scalp._

_"What is it?" He inquired, bemused. "A monkey?"_

_Her happy laugh filled the room and confused him even more. "Close." She said, reaching out to stroke his head. "It is a baby. Your brother."_

_He looked up at her, his sea blue eyes filled with concern. "Is it going to replace me? Am I not your baby anymore?"_

_She bent down and kissed his forehead. "No no, honey. You'll always be my baby. And now, he will too."_

_Still slightly unsure, he watched as his brother's tiny mouth yawned, stretching the skin taut around his mouth. He scrunched his nose up, unsettled. It looked odd._

_"I want you to take care of him because you two will be together always. It is a special bond that brother's share." His mother spoke again, soothingly brushing the baby's forehead. "You must protect him too because you are the oldest."_

_Doubt clouded his eyes and he glanced back up at his mother. "What if I don't like him?"_

_She beamed at his innocence. "Don't worry, you will. At times maybe you'll feel like you don't." She slipped the baby from his arms. "But deep down inside you always will."_

_Climbing onto her lap, he touched the baby's cheek, the silky skin warming his fingertips, and smiled. "I think I will like him"'_

_He leaned his head on her and she began to rock again, singing softly. "What's his name?"_

_"Mokuba. My little wooden horse."_

**-Kaiba's desk-**

"Kaiba! Kaiba!"

He jerked up sharply from the surface of his desk, his mind still stinging from the recent dream-memory. "What?" Looking upwards, his gaze met Jou's and he flinched inwardly.

'Jou…'

"What are you doing? Have you forgotten the paper we had to write?" Jou took a deep breath to calm his nerves but it didn't help much. "It took me forever to find your office and when I do find you, you're sleeping!"

Kaiba leaned back upon his chair, keeping his icy exterior in place, and smirked. "Well, what were you doing at the foot of the stairs?"

Jou flushed slightly, gritting his teeth, and forced a sort of warped smile. "That was different because you were doing something important and I had to wait. Plus, you woke me up then disappeared. Why the hell did you do that? You should have just let me sleep!"

His stomach doing somersaults, Kaiba cut the topic short. "Fine, fine, let's just begin on this stupid paper."

He started up his laptop that was placed on his desk and waited impatiently for it to load, tapping his fingers until something held them still. A hand.

Yanking his away, he turned sharply towards Jou who was now seated next to him. "Why did you do that? Don't touch me."

"The tapping of your fingers was annoying me." He grunted as he straightened his chair. "What is your problem?"

"I hate to be touched, especially by you." Kaiba spat as he struggled to keep his focus on the screen, rubbing his hand unconsciously. "And who said you could sit next to me?"

"I did since I need to see what the hell you are writing. Who knows what you could make up?" Jou moved nearer and Kaiba felt his heartbeat accelerate. "Now, how should we begin this web of lies?"

"Uh…"

This wasn't as easy as it sounded.

"It has to sound plausible for us since we aren't exactly the best of friends, so no friendship bracelets or anything." Kaiba offered, fuzzily staring at the screen. "Though we can't say we just fought with each other either."

"How about we say that we played with Mokuba? Or…I dunno…something that we both enjoy."

"Is their anything, besides playing with Mokuba, that we both enjoy?" Kaiba gave a sideways look at Jou who was grinning sheepishly.

"Well…what do you do besides go to school, work, and be an arrogant idiot?" Kaiba shot him a glare who was trying to look innocent. "What? I'm just telling the truth."

"I play the piano."

"Excuse me, what?"

"I play the piano! Do you know what a piano is, mutt?"

"Of course I do. I just find it fascinating that robots can play pianos now."

"Watch it."

"Fine, fine. But do you really?"

"Yes!"

"Wow, you really are human. Who taught you?"

"My mother."

"Oh…well…have you forgotten?"

"No, I still can play!"

"Fine then, play! Where's your piano?"

"I will not play for a moron like you!"

"Why not? Because you can't?"

"I can!"

"Then play!"

"No!"

"What are you bad or something?"

"No!"

"Then play!"

"I won't."

"Or you can't? Which is it?"

"I can play!"

"Then prove it to me. I never thought you'd back down so easily."

"Arrgh! Fine!"

Kaiba shoved himself away from the desk and pushed past the puppy, stalking down the hall. Scrambling to keep up, Jou nearly fell on his face and grabbed Kaiba's sleeve to steady himself.

"Do you mind?" He sneered, twisting away from his grasp. "I don't need you to dirty my coat."

"My deepest apologies, your highness." Jou rolled his eyes at Kaiba. "It was just an instinct."

"Shut up."

They walked in silence, footsteps echoing in the halls and Jou kept glancing uneasily around him.

"Why is it so dark?" He said as the lights became dimmer and fewer of them were seen on. "And cold?"

"As rich as I am, I still think it is a waste to heat and keep electricity on in a part of the house I hardly ever visit." He shook his head at the blonde's question.

"It's kinda creepy if you ask me." Jou tried not to think of what could be hiding in the shadows that were growing into fearsome forms. He was defenseless to these sorts of things.

"You were the one who wanted to hear me play the piano, you idiot." Kaiba hissed and sped up the pace. This was taking way too long.

"Is this house haunted?" Jou whispered, fear slowly constricting his throat. "I heard big houses are more likely to have ghosts."

"No, you dumbass. There is nothing of that sort here or in the rest of the world." Kaiba was on the verge of losing his temper with the dog, his irritating questions grating on his nerves.

Finally reaching the door, he stopped only to have Jou run headlong into him. Whirling around, he growled. "Watch where your-"

"KAIBA! Did you hear that? It…it…" He didn't finish his sentence and instead just stood there, shaking until… "Hurry up and open the door!"

'Baka…' Kaiba thought as he unlocked the door to reveal a pitch-black room, the curtains drawn and sheets thrown over the furniture. He flicked the switch on, flooding the room with light and Jou shoved inside, feeling a bit better.

An ebony grand piano, spotless and elegant, sat in the middle of the room, glinting in the light's glow. He gawked at its size and sat down on the bench, fiddling around with the keys. Noises collided with one another and made a jumbled mess of sound.

"Stop it." Kaiba snarled as he hauled Jou of the piano. "Do you know what a racket your making?"

Looking a bit hurt, Jou seated himself on one of the chairs and rested his chin on his hands. "When are you going to start?"

Kaiba, who had been standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, glared at Jou scathingly before sitting down upon the bench. Poising his delicate fingers over the keys, he suddenly remembered that he had never played for anyone else other than Mokuba and his mother. He swallowed the saliva that had been gathering in his mouth and reassured himself. 'What are you so damn worried about? It's just the inu.'

Muffling the tense feeling in his stomach, Kaiba breathed in and began playing the song he knew by heart and that had automatically come to him. His mother's. The one played at her funeral, her wedding. The first one he learned with her on that dismal day in the middle of rain season. The one he had played for Mokuba when he was little and the one that he had often played when his stepfather had hurt him.

'Why this one?' He frowned inside and felt stupid. 'Why did you pick this one? Why not some cheesy or chipper one?'

The thoughts became less persistent as he lost himself in the music, letting the neutral mask slip from his face. The memories of his mother and him flooded into his mind and he became that little boy that had sat in her lap once again.

The frown disappeared and his eyes, which had been empty, filled with life. Jou sat forward, watching this transformation come over Kaiba. It was as if he had lost all those years of hardship. He became his age. Jou was fixated.

The slow, peaceful song was coming to an end, Kaiba's favorite part. He pressed the cold ivory keys longer and held the last note until it flittered away into the night.

Unable to look at Jou out of slight embarrassment, he slid off and headed to the door. "Come on, it's done."

"Wait! Kaiba!" Childishly, Jou called out to him and fought to catch up. "That was really good so why are you running?"

"I'm not running." Kaiba threw his defenses back up that were down only moments ago, detached and emotionless once again. "I just don't see the point in hanging around there after you got what you wanted, mutt."

"Kaiba." Shaking his head, Jou followed the CEO, wondering if he had imagined what had just happened back there.

**End of Chapter 14**

**Author's note: **_Can I even express to you how sorry I am that this is incredibly late? All I can do is what I did when I was about three: It wasn't my fault! My computer did it! It broke itself! It all started when I was beginning my new chapter and it just…blew up! Arrgh! Not literally of course, but still. I couldn't get on or anything. So I turned it over to a specialist who kept it FOREVER just to clean out all the crap that was in there. So annoying! Now, here I am with a chapter that took a hell of a long time to write. I wanted to make it longer but I also want to get it to you as fast as I could. Hope that you liked it and I won't emotionally beat myself up for it either. (People get sick of that) Thanks so much for my reviews, I loved them tons. Also, I know that a couple of people have fanart. I am so happy that you took time to do that! Thanks so much! Here's my email if you need it: But I don't know what else to do. Do you want me to email you? Or what? Sorry, but I've never had anyone nice enough to do this for me and I really want to see it! Please email me or tell me in your reviews. I bet it's gorgeous! I have to warn you all about something, though. My laptop isn't mine. The company that my mother works for and has borrowed the computer from just found out that she's getting married and moving away and they are really mad. So, in vengeance for her leaving, they are fighting for the computer and I might lose it. Now, if that happens I won't have any contact with anyone until I can get my own computer and that really blows. Why is the world against me? Anyways, feeling sorry for myself isn't going to get me anywhere so I guess I'll have to either live with my dad or buy my own computer. Great choices. I won't give up though because that damn company is really pissing me off. Thanks to all my reviewers (again) because you were patient enough to wait for this. So, bringing it to an end, I want to thank you all for reading another chapter and I am asking you to REVIEW! Please? Hope that you had a wonderful thanksgiving and that you won't be eating leftovers for too long. Bleh!_

_P.S. Somehow, Kaiba playing the piano makes me feel happy all over. I think he is cut out for that kind of stuff._


	15. Lunch hysteria

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning: **_Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 15: Lunch hysteria**

Jou lay in the foreign bedroom, unable to sleep, and watched the ceiling. After Kaiba and him had gotten back, they wrote the paper with little conversation. The brunette seemed to have thought that he had been too open and refused to say anything more than two words and a heavy silence had been draped upon them. Jou found himself wishing that they could have at least been insulting each other, anything but uncomfortable dead quiet. When Kaiba had left, he had given a clipped goodnight and told him to choose whatever room.

The mansion reminded him of Kaiba himself. Empty, cold, and locked up. The drafts that blew through the house made him shiver and he had piled all the blankets on top of him to keep warm.

But he was different when he was playing that song. Jou thought of how he suddenly looked so young and fresh. It was as if he had gone back in time. Then, when it was all over, the mask had slipped back on as if nothing had happened.

'Why do you hide yourself?' Jou mused, remembering how Kaiba's eyes had changed the most. 'Why do you hide that from everyone?'

Extreme exhaustion smothered him out of nowhere and he felt his eyes slide shut. 'Thinking of Kaiba is tiring. Much less trying to figure him out.'

_**-Next day-**_

He woke to food smells. Springing out of bed with energy he didn't know he could have this early in the morning, Jou bounded downstairs to the source. His nose led the way and he slid into the giant kitchen. A busy petite cook, her hands doing seven different things, was cooking the most delicious breakfast he'd even seen.

Wiping the drool off his face, he was getting ready to pounce on the plates that were lying on the counter when something flew at his face. A broom. He felt it rush past and the wind tickled his ear.

"Get out! Get out!" The cook seethed, aiming at his head again. He ducked and stumbled back. "Get out of my kitchen!"

Backed up against a door, she swung again and he had no choice but to go through it. He fell on the floor; sharp jabs of pain shooting up his spine, and dumbly gaped at the cook that loomed over him. She slammed the door shut with such force that it rattled the windowpanes and he sat there in numb shock until a voice startled him.

"I see you have met my cook." Kaiba's cool tone sliced through the morning air while Mokuba giggled. Brushing himself off, Jou stood up and faced them, glowing pink.

"What was that thing? A monster?" He rubbed his sore ass, grimacing in pain.

"We don't know, but she sure is one hell of a cook." Mokuba gave a cheeky grin across from the long stretch table. "Maybe you'd better go get ready. Food will be done soon."

"Yeah, okay." He grumbled. What a way to wake up. As he stomped up the stairs, he could hear Mokuba's laughs emitting from the dining room.

'Dumbass.' He scowled darkly. 'What were you thinking?'

He found his room, thanking himself that he had stayed in the easiest place to find, and shut the door. Walking into the bathroom, he glanced into the mirror and didn't enjoy what he saw.

A mop of tangled hair, swirls and eddies, peaks and twists, was piled atop his head. He squinted at his face, swollen and hot with sleep, and stuck his cherry red tongue out at it. 'What a sight.'

His mouth tasted like he had been eating his foot and he used a liberal amount of toothpaste to eradicate the tang, before washing his face. The drowsiness was shocked away with the frigid water and soap, and he blinked fully at his reflection.

He had taken a shower last night so no worries there. After dressing, washing, and another round of teeth brushing, he was halfway down the stairs before realizing that he had taken longer to get ready than normal. A little voice in his head that he couldn't quite squash in time suggested, 'You're trying to impress Kaiba.'

"Nonsense." He said aloud, denial evident in his tone. "I hate him."

"Hate who?"

Jou froze and felt the uncontrollable shivers of shock in his chest before turning around. He soon regretted it.

"K…Kaiba!" The sinking feeling of dread washed over him. "Don't scare me like that!"

"Hn." Kaiba just ignored him and glided past. "Be sure to eat your breakfast, mutt. I don't want to waste food."

"Fine. Be that way." Jou growled as he stomped in the other direction. Why did he even bother with trying to talk to the ice-cold prick? It was a waste of time.

He padded to the kitchen, ate his food with sort of a heated verve, and grabbed his backpack and shoes that were by the door. First day of school that he actually had to come into contact with Kaiba without insulting him.

He groaned at the thought and slipped his shoes the rest of the way on, stomping to make them fit. 'Damn I need to get some new shoes. These are almost too small.' He thought and he felt his toes becoming numb.

"Would you mind not tramping all over my floors? I don't need scuff marks all over the place." A silky voice hissed behind him making a familiar resentment swell in his chest.

"Kaiba." He growled softly as he turned to meet his deadpan expression. "I don't need you breathing down my neck 24/7."

Ignoring Jou's request completely, Kaiba leaned dangerously close to his face and narrowed his eyes. "This is my house, you dumb mutt. Remember that."

Kaiba's frosted eyes remained locked on his until the chime of a distant clock broke him off. He turned carelessly away. "We are leaving now."

Jou stood there, anger seeming to seep through his pores, until Mokuba came rushing down the stairs and pushed him along. "Come on Jou, you don't want to be late."

"Alright, alright. Hang on a sec, will ya?" He yelped as Mokuba nearly shoved him onto the floor. "I can walk on my own."

Mokuba just grinned that innocent grin and bounced after his brother.

_**-In the car-**_

Jou sat in the car, staring at his feet as it rolled smoothly across the paved road. An uneasy hush had filled the car after they had dropped off the talkative, yet enjoyable Mokuba off at school and Jou felt the strongest urge to break it. But what the hell would he say? Hey Kaiba, how's work? Life going well? Even in his head it sounded idiotic.

He glanced up and the human iceberg next to him who was calmly staring out the window, his delicate hands resting on his lap. So unusual. Shouldn't he be furiously typing at his laptop or insulting someone on the phone? Or shouldn't he be at least reading some confidential manila folder with his face twisted in disgust?

Kaiba, becoming aware of his stare, turned towards him, a blank expression on his face. "What?" His voice lacked bite, lacked…Kaiba.

Jou quickly averted his gaze and continued to stare at his feet. "Nothing."

Kaiba gazed at Jou for a moment longer before turning back to the window and the busy life that flew by in a rush of colors. 'What was that dumb mutt looking at me for just then? What was that look for?'

Letting the thought drop, he continued to watch life rush by from behind the cool pane of glass until the car glided to a stop at the entrance to the school.

Climbing out, Kaiba was unexpectedly hit with a rush of dizziness and grasped the car door to hold himself up. 'That's right. I couldn't sleep and didn't eat this morning.' He thought as his vision returned. Luckily, his short episode went unnoticed to the outside world and people. Almost.

"Kaiba."

He turned to see Jou glaring at him and felt the strong urge to look away. But instead, he answered in his usual flat icy tone. "What?"

"You didn't eat, did you?" Jou's gaze sharpened and Kaiba, though unaffected on the surface, felt a storm of emotions rise from within. "And after all that has happened."

"What does it matter to you?" Kaiba met the defiant stare with his own, his breath becoming slightly uneven. He has always enjoyed these confrontations.

"It doesn't matter to me at all!" Jou flushed at the words, his anger and embarrassment evident. "But what about Mokuba?"

'Mokuba…' The gloom that engulfed Kaiba's emotions was shown on his blank expression for a fleeting second before reverting back. He had to remain cool and let Jou be the one to make a fool of himself. It has to be him who loses it.

But Jou saw the mask cracking, even if it was just for a moment, and pressed on. "Don't be so selfish and think about the one person who cares about you. You're lucky to have that." He carefully watched Kaiba's eyes for his reaction. For something in those seas of cobalt. Anything.

"Mutt. Do not concern yourself with my personal matters just because you are living with me." Kaiba sharply twisted out of the lock of gazes and strode towards the school, an escape clearly apparent to Jou who knew he had won.

_**-Lunch-**_

Pulling his sliding book bag further up his shoulder, Jou ambled out of his class and looked amongst the ocean of people for his friends. And Kaiba…

'Ugh. I officially lost my appetite as of now.' He thought as he pushed through the crowded hallway while keeping an eye out. 'I doubt if he'll show up though.'

He suddenly lost his balance and slammed face first into a rather solid chest. Looking up, he was met with two beady black eyes and a bloated face. Bunzo.

"Get outta my way, loser." Came the deep, dense voice of Bunzo as Jou shoved away disgustedly. "I'm not your friend."

"Don't worry. I don't think of you as in the same species of me, much less my friend." Jou retorted, brushing away imaginary debris of his coat. "Where's Yugi?"

"Right here." The meek voice was heard from behind the oversized beast and Jou craned his neck over to see a rather nervous Yugi dwarfed by the sheer mass of Bunzo.

"Heya Yugi. I was just looking for you." He roughly knocked Bunzo aside and grinned at his best friend. "Where is the rest of the gang?"

"I dunno. I was trying to look for them. But…" Yugi looked up at Bunzo who was currently throttling an unfortunate freshman who had happened to walk by. "But he kinda drags me around."

"Don't worry. Let's go and hopefully the gorilla will follow." Pulling Yugi along, Jou was looking back at Bunzo when he slammed straight into someone else. Someone way worse than any Bunzo.

"Mutt. Watch where you're going."

"Kaiba." He growled at Kaiba who was watching him with cold eyes. "What do you want?"

"Well, regrettably, we are working together and, also a tragedy, our teacher is checking the lunch room to see if we are with our partners." He didn't look too happy about divulging that information. "She might as well have shut down my corporation."

Jou opened his mouth to sneer back when a familiar voice cut him off. "Jonouchi! Aibou!"

"Yami!" Yugi yelled to the pharaoh as he came over with Bakura, Ryou, Anzu, Otogi and Honda by his side. Jou distinctly heard Kaiba groan but ignored him and greeted everyone with his usual self.

"Hey guys." He beamed happily, his predicament of having to willingly converse with Kaiba slightly brightened. He noticed that Otogi and Honda were still behaving unusual and that Anzu still was slightly pissed and Bakura was more possessive than normal of Ryou. But they were still his friends.

Yugi looked like the circus had come and clung to Yami like a cat. Bunzo would have a hard time getting to him now.

"I heard that our teacher is actually checking to see if we sit by each other at lunch." Ryou said, trying to remove a certain person off his arm.

"Yeah. Crazy huh?" He replied, trying not to think too much about it. "I feel like we are in prison."

Otogi suggested that they better get moving or risk their grades and the group began making their way towards the huge double doors to the lunch room, Bunzo trailing behind. Jou felt a grip on his arm and stopped, turning around. He was met with Kaiba's arctic expression and knew what was coming.

"Mutt, I'm not going with them." He said in pure disgust, eyes narrowing at their retreating backs. His grip tightened. "Neither are you."

"Well, sadly, that's not up to you to decide." Jou replied, pulling out of Kaiba's grasp and stepping away. "I really don't care about this whole project thing, but I know for a fact that you won't be able to handle a bad grade. So unless you want a F, follow me."

As he went to catch up to his friends, he could feel Kaiba behind him, sullenly following him, and he knew that he'd pay later. 'Oh well. Small victory for me.' They finally caught up, Jou easily melting into the conversation and Kaiba silently next to him.

When they pushed through the doors, they saw pure chaos. It was packed with people, all crammed against each other, the food line never-ending. Jou was shoved involuntarily into Kaiba, his breath hitching as he felt himself up against the CEO's chest. Roughly pushing away, Jou tried to stay with his friends, but they were lost among the crowd and he felt the constricting feeling of so many things around him closing in.

"Kaiba!" Jou yelled over his shoulder to the brunette, who was knocking several teens out of the way, clearly uncomfortable with all the activity. He looked up at him when he called but didn't say anything. "Let's get the hell out of here!"

To his complete surprise, Kaiba reached forward and yanked Jou through the river of people that had separated them, dragging him through endless mob of students, and bursting out the back doors where the outdoor lunch area was. The calmness was welcoming and Jou sat down on one of the benches, catching his breath.

"Thanks for getting me out of there. I wasn't sure you had heard me." Jou sorta kinda mumbled into his hands, his heavy panting making it hard to talk. Plus, he hated thanking Kaiba for anything. "I guess we'll tell that damn teacher that it was way too full in there to even breathe, much less find her and eat."

His hunger was unbearable and he felt himself wishing he had at least eaten something. He rested his head in his hands, trying to forget about it, until something was thrown into his lap. Looking down he saw the wrapped bundle of…

"A sandwich?"

"Mokuba has picked up the habit of stuffing food into my jackets every morning." Jou looked up at a rather bored Kaiba. "I normally throw it away but I didn't want you whining about your hunger if we missed lunch, so I kept it."

Jou tore open in a savage way, thanking Kaiba quickly, and was about to bite into it until he thought better.

Kaiba watched Jou in bemusement as he tore it into half and in slight shock when he held it out a half to him. "Here. Eat it."

"What?"

"Eat it. Mokuba made it for you and you need to start eating." Jou said firmly, still holding it out to him.

"No. I'm not eating."

"Come one. It's only a half a sandwich. You should probably eat more."

"No."

"Fine then. If you don't eat it, I'll tell the teacher that I wasn't present at lunch because I couldn't find you and you were avoiding me."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

Snatching the sandwich away from a rather smug Jou, Kaiba stared at the food as if it contained poison before taking a bite. Not used to eating very often he wanted to spit it back out. But instead he stubbornly chewed and swallowed the bite, trying to keep his exterior void of any emotion.

He looked up at Jou, who motioned for him to keep eating, then after a particularly nasty scowl, ate the rest as fast as he could manage. He felt slightly nauseated afterwards but kept it to himself.

"There, that wasn't so bad was it?" Jou smirked at Kaiba before wolfing down the rest of the sandwich. He stood up, brushed off the crumbs, and stretched before turning back to Kaiba. "Well, what should we do now?"

"Find that teacher. We've had our break from that madness of the cafeteria." He smoothly rose from the bench and went back to the doors, realizing, resentfully, how much energy he had gained from that one meal. Pushing open the double doors, he knocked over several unlucky students who happened to be leaning up against it. Ignoring their cries of distress, he tugged Jou through the horde once again, now bigger than before, and went straight to the back where the teacher's lounge was.

"Kaiba! Are you sure that this is okay?" Jou shouted over the roar of the blather of people even though he was less than two feet away from him. "I mean, will they let us in there?"

"It doesn't matter whether they will or not!" With that, Kaiba burst open the door, upsetting several administrators who had been enjoying the empty tranquility of the room.

"What do you think you're doing here?" A rather tall man said in a disgusted voice. "Get out!"

"Shut up and tell me where Mrs. Saito (1), my history teacher, is." Kaiba spat rather resentfully at the man, making the towering adult redden in fury.

"She's outside in that hell, trying to control her students along with the rest of the last period teachers. Damn project is making them go crazy." He came over to them, his anger seeming to grow with every word. "Now get out before I expel-"

Slamming the door shut, Kaiba looked down at Jou, his expression neutral. "This project was given to the whole school?"

"I guess so." Jou turned to look at the swarm of individuals that had infested the cafeteria. "What else could explain this mess?"

"Hn." Kaiba was in deep thought. 'Why would they do something as stupid as this friendship project? It was making the school fall apart and they weren't dumb enough to do that. Why would they do this?'

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud voice on the speakers, recognizable even over the noise. "Be quiet please. I need to make an announcement."

When nobody listened, Mrs. Saito gave up on the polite tactic and screamed. "SHUT UP!"

Dead silence.

"Alright, that's better." She sighed up on the mike, giving the crowd a small smile. "I know this is one big mess in here and that you probably haven't even seen your teacher, much less checked in with them. So, I have proposed to the staff and they agreed heartily, that tomorrow instead of coming here for lunch, you all report to your last period to eat."

The groans of protest only made her smile more. "Now I know that seems a bit unfair but unfortunately, you cannot seem to organize yourselves on your own so I'm afraid that we have to do this."

She wasn't apologetic about this at all, just enjoying it. "Of course you won't be expected to stay in there. After buying your lunch in the first ten minutes, you will go to your last period class where the teacher will assign an area for you to stay with a supervisor. If they report that you have strayed from the area, fought with your partner, left your partner, or have done anything else out of conduct, you will be punished."

The room was filled with mouths open in shock but Mrs. Saito just continued on like nothing she was saying was out of the ordinary. "That is all I have to say. Today's lunch period is already over but perhaps you did not hear the bell. Head to class everyone."

The chatter started up once again as the mass moved through the doors and into the hallways. Jou, however, remained frozen in shock until Kaiba shook him out of his stunned state and pushed him along.

Wailing all the way to class, Jou caused many odd looks to be thrown his way, but Kaiba, in rare consideration, did not shut him up.

**End of Chapter 15**

**Explanations**: _(1) If I gave her a name already, please inform me. I reread all my chapters to make sure but I might have missed something._

**Author's notes: **_Another late chapter. Sorry to all who have waited so long. It was extremely hard to write and I really wanted to make it longer for you. So hard. I kept wanting to end the chapter at three pages because it took me a month to write just that. Arrgh! Anyways, my computer is going away soon, maybe today, and I'm trying to convince my mother to buy me another one. I only have about 140 so I can't buy one of my own. So sad. Thank you for my reviews. Very nice and kept me from ending the chapter at three pages. I don't know if this will be up to your standards but I hope you like it. Thanks for reading and drop in a review when you have the time. See ya._


	16. Bundt cakes are evil

**Story: **_Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- Chapter Start & End _

**Chapter 16: Bundt cakes are evil**

"I have to go to work." Kaiba stated bluntly as they pushed through the ever growing crowd of kids. School had already ended. "Go play with your friends or something until I get back."

Jou, who was reading the next friendship assignment with growing horror exclaimed. "Look at this! They're making us bake. Bake, for heaven's sake!"

"Mutt, did you just hear anything I said?" Kaiba apathetically asked, not really in the mood to be angry at Jou's predictable behavior. "I thought dog's had good hearing."

"Huh?" Was the only reply he got.

"Ungh. Never mind. I'll tell you in the car." The front of the school was equally packed, many stressed and tired parents picking up their kids from school and blocking traffic. He stood for a full minute, scanning the lot for his scheduled limo, before he finally found it.

"Mutt, if you don't start paying attention, you'll get run over." Snapping at Jou who had bumped into him, still reading the damn sheet he had.

He looked up from the paper dazedly and caught glimpse of the swarming parking lot of cars and people. "Oh. Right. And don't call me mutt, Moneybags!"

Exasperated, Kaiba wondered if he should of let him find out on his own the dangers of crossing the parking lot. He began to walk towards his ride, hoping that the dumb blonde had enough sense to follow.

"Hey Kaiba, come here! Where are you going?"

Obviously not.

"To the _car_, inu!" He spat over his shoulder, putting a stress on the word car. "Stop day dreaming and get your ass over here!"

The idiot finally did.

_**-Kaiba's limo-**_

"I have to go to work." He said once again, the limo speeding down the road. "Can you call your friends or something until I get home?"

"No. They're all over the place. It'll be hard to contact them and even then..." Jou sighed, his face looking slightly disappointed. "This project is ruining my life."

"For once, I agree with you." Kaiba thought of all the work waiting to be finished at his office and groaned. What was he going to do?

"What if I go play with Mokuba?" Jou said, throwing ideas around. "I know he needs some playtime."

"Mokuba's at soccer practice till six." Kaiba leaned back, massaging his sore head and feeling exhausted. "And I'm not leaving you at the mansion alone. For the safety of it, of course."

"I figured that." Jou murmured resentfully. Think of all the stuff he could do.

"I suppose that you'll have to come with me." He dreaded the thought, but what else was he going to do? He didn't exactly want to drop Jou off at his apartment, having seen the state it was in, but he wouldn't admit to that. "Just get your homework done and be a good doggy."

The car slid to a stop before Jou could retort and they found themselves in front of Kaiba Corporation's immense skyscraper. He had to tilt his head all the way back to see the top and nearly fell over.

"Mutt, watch yourself." Kaiba took out his briefcase and started towards the huge double glass doors of the building.

The glass doors slid open and a receptionist greeted Kaiba warmly. He just brushed past but Jou grinned and waved. 'Why did Kaiba have to be so mean?' He ran to catch up with the CEO, who was nearly to the elevator, when a rather large guard jumped out of nowhere.

"What do you think your doing here, punk?" The oversized gorilla grunted, his hand noticeably covering his gun. "Get outta here before I-"

"He's with me so don't touch him." Kaiba grabbed the arm of the man rather roughly and pushed him away. Most of the attention had been focused on them now and Jou could see why. Kaiba never brought street scum into the office. He felt down at the thought. That was all they saw and judged him as.

"Mutt." Snapping out of his thoughts, he looked up at Kaiba. "I need to get my work done. Today."

Jou glumly nodded his head and followed Kaiba into the elevator, trying to ignore the dark stares of the people around him. He felt better, though, when he heard, before the doors shut, the receptionist say. "I think he's kinda cute."

_**-Kaiba's office-**_

As expected, Kaiba's office was at the top floor, secluded from everyone and also expected, it was huge. The only other person on that floor was a bored secretary who looked as if she'd rather be anywhere else. Her demeanor suddenly changed though when they both walked in.

"Hello, Mr. Kaiba." She chirped faithfully, her eyes sparkling. "I trust you are feeling better."

Her eyes then fell on Jou, who was standing awkwardly offside. The sheen and sparkle left instantly and a disappointed look replaced the cheerful one. She was used to having Kaiba all to herself.

"Hello." He smiled that fake smile he always had for people he couldn't stand. She was already getting on his nerves, her flirting with Kaiba and then how her she instantly judged him. Well, what else could he expect?

"Hello." She said, a hint of disgust carefully veiled within her words. Jou still caught it, though. Kaiba either missed it or was ignoring them because he didn't say anything, just continued to shuffle through a folder that had been neatly set at the girl's desk for him. He frowned.

"What's this? I don't recall asking for anything like this." He pulled out a pastel pink envelope covered in hearts and loopy handwriting that spelled the name, _Seto._

"I put it in there, Mr. Kaiba. Though I'd appreciate it if you read it at your home." Blush had evenly spread her cheeks as she said it, and was unconsciously twirling a strand of her strawberry blonde hair. Somehow, this made Jou want to smack her.

Kaiba's expression revealed nothing. He didn't seem too eager about opening a love confession from his secretary so he just threw it back in the folder and moved on. Jou turned to throw the most scathing glare he could come up with at the girl, who looked too giddy for his taste. Why this made him so angry was beyond him. Who cared if she flirted with Kaiba? But he couldn't seem to control the intense hatred for her that was building in his chest.

"Mutt, come." Kaiba slid the keycard into the scanner, the door unlocking, and walked in. Jou followed, though getting a sense of satisfaction from the jealous look on his secretary's face, and shut the door as loud as he could without pissing off Kaiba. So he didn't trust his secretary enough to let her in his office but he was allowed in. This put an odd feeling in his stomach and he opted not to figure out what it was.

Upon entering, Jou was surprised that Kaiba trashed the folder she had given him immediately and sat down to his computer, firing it up. Jou, on the other hand, plopped himself down on the padded chair in front of his desk and set his feet up on the polished surface. This earned a pointed look and he removed them reluctantly.

"Hey you, can we finish the project here so I can just go home without worrying about anything besides you breaking something?" Kaiba's voice cut through the air and it took Jou awhile to realize it was him he was speaking too.

"Are you talking to me?" He asked rather stupidly and absently, his eyes on the ceiling as he tested how far he could tip back in the chair.

"No, it appears that you haven't noticed that there is a man that has been standing in the corner the whole time and that I am currently having a conversation with him." Sarcasm laced his voice as he rolled his eyes in mild annoyance. "Of course I'm talking to you, you idiot."

"Well…" Jou began as he set the chair upright again and glared at Kaiba. "It would be nice if actually used my name instead of 'hey you' or 'mutt' every once in awhile."

"Fine then, _Jonouchi_, can we finish the project at my office so I can relax as much as I can in your presence?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because we have to bake."

"_Bake?"_

"Yeah. A cake. Then we have to bring it to school tomorrow as proof."

He sighed, exasperated, and turned to his computer's screen. "My cook would do it but she would make me pay her overtime. And as much as I'd like to not come in contact with you after we go home, I'm not spending money for a damn cake."

"You're a billionaire and you not going to pay your cook overtime to save us hours of stress and fighting?" Jou was in awe. How stingy could one get?

"No. I've got to work now so would you please go amuse yourself for three hours until we have to go pick up Mokuba?" Kaiba snapped, determined to catch up a little bit on his missed work and deadlines.

Jou sat there for a few moments and stared at the brunette's concentrated face before exiting quietly from the office to bother some employees.

_**-Three hours later-**_

Rubbing his temples for the umpteenth time today, Kaiba sat back in satisfaction and admired the fact that most of his work was complete. 'Now to find where the puppy has gone off too.' He thought as he shut down his computer and stacked the loose papers that had been scattered across his desk into a neat pile. 'I wonder if he's gotten himself into any trouble.'

He stood up and strode towards the door, flipping open his cell. "Tell Jonouchi to meet at the entrance if he knows what's good for him." Without waiting for the expected "Hai, Seto-sama", he snapped it shut and left his office, ignoring his coy secretary's farewells.

_**-Somewhere else-**_

Hearing that he was needed in the front, Jou now meandered away from the desk of the receptionist and said bye to the small crowd he had attracted to it. Kaiba's employees were much more relaxed and fun without the CEO there and they all warmed up to him after they had gotten to know him a little. The three hours actually hadn't gone that bad.

He strolled through the glass doors and outside, the air a little sweeter than normal until a certain person chose to show up and covered the sun in dark clouds. Well, not as bad as normal at least.

"Hey Kaiba. Are we leaving now?" Jou grinned as cheerfully as he could around the icy teen. He was looking oddly serene though, like he was actually approachable.

"Why the hell would we be out here if we weren't?" Maybe not. After all, appearances can be deceiving. "Actually, before we go to the house, we've got to pick up Mokuba."

"Okay." They stood there for a few moments in silence, unable to find anything to say, until the limo slid up beside them. As they both climbed in, Jou couldn't help but think that they were becoming at bit more civil to each other, if not distant friends. The last part kinda freaked him out. Friends with Kaiba? Who woulda thunk?

"Jonouchi."

His name jerked him out of his dream like trance he was in and caused him to sharply turn towards Kaiba, a loud crack in his neck sending pain signals shooting up to his brain. "What?"

Kaiba sat in momentary silence at Jou's recent actions before choosing his words carefully. "I never thought using your name would have this sort of effect on you."

Jou sheepishly rubbed his sore neck and peaked out from under his bangs. "Yeah…just surprised that's all."

"I see." Kaiba said indifferently, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "What I meant to say was that is that all we really have to do for our project? Bake a cake?"

"Well…there are specifics. Like, it has to be a chocolate macaroon Bundt cake with chocolate glaze." Seeing Kaiba's bemused expression he waved his hands in the air. "Don't ask me what the hell a Bundt cake is. I think it's American."

"American huh? Well, that explains everything." He touched his fingers to the bridge of his nose. "So, on top of everything else, we have to research this _Bundt _cake and buy all the necessary materials. I'm going to kill that teacher."

"When you do, I'll have your back." Jou leaned back into the seat and yawned. "I just hope we aren't up all night."

"Hmmm, we possibly will be." He glanced out the window. Why did it please him so much when he heard that Jonouchi would back him up? It meant nothing. The kiss came suddenly and clearly to him and he closed his eyes in dismay. 'That meant nothing too. It was a stupid mistake.' He opened them up to find themselves slowing in front of Mokuba's elementary school. "We're here."

Mokuba, who was breathless and his face tinged pink, came running up to the car. "Hey Seto and Jou." He gasped out when Kaiba opened the door. He waved briefly to his friends and got in, leaving the driver to struggle with his soccer gear. "Did you guys have a good day?"

"It was fine. And you?" Kaiba smiled slightly at his brother's change in expression. From bright to stormy. How his emotions swung.

"Oh, it was terrible! First this girl in my class…" Mokuba then proceeded to tell his whole school day from beginning to end, animating it with his hands and expression, and entertaining both of the older teens. Jou sat back in his chair and listened with interest, wishing he could have more days like this.

_**-Kitchen-**_

They now sat in the airy kitchen, counters gleaming and neat rows of cutlery set in cabinets. The cook was a perfectionist for sure.

Kaiba had brought in his laptop and now sat in front of it, brow furrowed in concentration and kept running his fingers through his now tousled hair. Jou fought the urge to ruffle it himself and instead decided to just annoy him with his questions.

"Have you found out what a Bundt cake is?" He innocently asked as he went around to read over Kaiba's shoulder.

"Yes." He hissed back, hair bristling on his neck. "But it's the most idiotic way to make a cake I've seen by far."

"Why?" Jou tried to decipher what was on the screen, but it was all in English.

"Well, first we need a special pan and then when you have finished the batter, you pour it in and bake it upside down, flipping it right side up when it is fully cooked which of course means that there is a high percentage that it will stick or fall apart." Kaiba rubbed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Luckily for us, my cook is prepared for all sorts of weird cooking experiences and already has the pan we need."

He stood up, nearly knocking over Jou, and shut his laptop, setting it on the dining room table in the next room. Explaining with his eyes that he wanted his laptop a safe distance from them, he handed Jou the written directions to make the cake. "Let's start looking for what we need."

_**-Sometime later-**_

"Okay…I found…the pan." Jou panted between breaths. He had never thought in his life how hard it would be to find a simple pan. But it had been amongst thousands it seemed and he had searched almost every cabinet.

"I've found all the ingredients except for the baking soda." Kaiba looked cool and composed but in reality he was just as tired as Jou. "Where in the hell would she keep the damn baking soda?"

"I dunno. But…I'm tired." Jou set the pan on the counter along with the other bowls and spoons before sitting down for a nice break. "Let's just forget the baking soda."

"No. I've got to find it." He was frustrated and angry and wanted to slaughter his cook for having so much crap in her kitchen. "It has to be here somewhere."

He yanked open a cabinet with such force that it knocked over a package of flour inside which landed right on his head.

Poof! Jou saw in amazement a white cloud explode next to him and began settling on every surface available, giving the impression that it had just snowed in the kitchen. It wasn't until the haze cleared though, when he started laughing.

Kaiba, covered in a thin layer of colorless dust, stood astounded his hand still on the cabinet handle, no doubt working out what just happened. Jou, meanwhile, was weak in the knees and doubled over in laughter.

Looking up, Kaiba saw in disgust a container of baking soda nestled in between two more flour bags. How very convenient. He pulled it out with what little dignity he had left and set it on the counter, turning to glare at Jou, who was still howling in amusement.

"That's…that's the best…thing that has happened…in a long time!" He said between bouts of laughter, gripping the edge of the counter to keep from falling. "That was wonderful!"

"Jonouchi. Stop laughing or someone might get hurt." Kaiba commanded, though it had no effect.

"No way…I can't!" He came up from over the counter to face Kaiba and laugh some more, but he barely had turned his head when something came flying at it and burst into a powdery mess. He sat in shock on the stool while he realized what had just happened and he couldn't believe it.

He too was now ghostly pale and had a fine sheet of flour covering his skin. Looking up with wide eyes at Kaiba, Jou stuttered. "W…why did you do that?"

Kaiba just, incredibly, smiled at Jou's predicament. "Why should I be the only one to enjoy having flour all over myself?"

_**-Later-**_

After shaking out all the flour from their clothes and hair and sweeping up the kitchen, they finally started. It was roughly ten when they did and Jou was glad that they had had dinner before they started. Though both Mokuba and Jou had to force Kaiba to sit down and eat with them.

They worked as quick as they could, making a temporary truce, and finally the cake was in the oven. Jou sat down, exhausted and covered in cake batter, and Kaiba sat across from him, too tired to hide his fatigue any more.

"Well, that wasn't too bad was it?" Jou tried to be upbeat but a glare from Kaiba told him that this wasn't the time. "It was terrible, wasn't it?"

"Yes. We need to clean up, then make sure the damn thing doesn't fall apart when we turn it out, and then glaze it. For once, I'm going to have to skip my late night work to sleep." Kaiba rested his head in his hands and groaned. "I'm so behind too."

They started cleaning, Kaiba washing the utensils and Jou replacing everything back among the shelves. They cleaned the counters and floor, setting out the rack to cool the cake on and finally heard the bell ding, signaling that it was done.

After burning himself twice, Jou finally managed to get it out of the oven and let it cool for ten minutes before allowing Kaiba to try and turn it out. He held his breath as the delicate dessert slid out from the pan and landed neatly on the rack. They both sighed in relief.

By the time it was glazed, packaged, and set off to the side where it would be safe, Jou nearly toppled over from deprivation of sleep. Shutting off the lights, he turned towards Kaiba and nearly smiled. He didn't look like the icy, poised guy that he normally was but instead weary and aggravated, his emotions showing clearly. He was human.

"What are you staring at?" Kaiba scowled at him who continued to gaze.

"You. You're human you know. I realized that a few days ago." Jou smiled sleepily and scratched his rumpled hair. "Also, when you finally make a mistake, it's hilarious."

Kaiba's scowl darkened and he turned away rather suddenly. "I'm going to bed. Make sure you don't sleep in those clothes, Jonouchi."

As he climbed the stairs and went to his room, Kaiba thought of this night's past events and incidents. Even though he was worn-out and irritable and even though he was forced to work with Jonouchi all night, he knew that deep down, he had had a hell of a time.

**End of Chapter 16**

**Author's notes: **_I despise Bundt cakes. I tried to make one a while back and it ended up in pieces all over the cooling rack. I think I might have gone berserk because I don't remember much after that. Yeah. So, I know this story has gone agonizingly slow so far especially with me updating so infrequently. Next chapter or the one after that I'll start to screw with time and speed things up a bit. It's the 16th chapter and they've only kissed once (which really didn't count) and have just barely begun to realize what their feelings are for each other. I personally like it when the author draws it out but it is probably rather annoying to you poor reviewers. Sorry. Anyways, thanks for the reviews by the way. They were wonderful. While I was stuck on this chapter I wrote another story (a short one) and posted it up here. So if you haven't read it, I would very much appreciate that you would even though it is rather…I dunno. I hope you liked this chapter and review. I love reading them and have them all saved in my inbox so if I'm feeling insecure about my writing, I just go and read them. Pathetic I know but it works. Lol. See you next chapter. _


	17. A thousand words

**Story:**_ Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols:**_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- __Chapter Start & End_

**Chapter 17: A thousand words **

The brief blinding flash followed by the whirr of machinery could only be Jou, who was circling the mansion's yard, snapping one meaningless picture after another. Box hedges and bursts of roses were purposefully placed about the enclosure, encircling the lawn in a florid beauty, while ponds broke up the dry ground. But the disciplined look of it and the clear indication that people had been paid to do the gardening cast sort of a cold insensitive feeling over the life filled area.

Yet, as he walked amongst the blades of grass, he was not without a sense of awe at the expanse of vegetation that bordered the house. He never felt that Kaiba was a nature sort of guy, but if he was willing to pour this much money into his backyard, he must enjoy it somewhat.

Finding another tasteful arrangement of flowers and leaves, Jou bent down to focus in on it, satisfied and pleased with his eye for beauty that he never discovered until now. Maybe this assignment wasn't so bad after all.

That did not seem true when they received the three page packet explaining in clear detail that not only were they required to take pictures, they had to incorporate themselves into it as well. The last thing he and Kaiba wanted to do was take pictures of each other, even if they were on better terms.

'_Until that time comes, I'll practice on more sensitive things that don't scowl all the time.' _It was a simple enough task because even a lifeless rock was more sensitive than Kaiba.

Jou smiled in spite of his thoughts. Even if he was dead tired today from staying up so late last night, he was glad to see Kaiba in a way that hardly anyone else had. Exhausted and disheveled, making mistakes. It was just too cute.

'_Wait…cute wasn't exactly the word I was looking for. I must be really caught up in this whole beauty thing if I having thoughts like that now.'_

A little too disturbed by himself to go on, Jou decided to go look for the man himself. It was time for Kaiba to get out and appreciate his million dollar garden for once. He was probably just upstairs overworking himself anyways.

As he entered the house, thankfully remembering to wipe the mud off his shoes before removing them this time, he frowned at the quiet atmosphere that he met. Kaiba did make noise, even if he was working, and he did require light to see. So why was the house so silent and dark?

"Kaiba?" He called upstairs only to be answered by his own voice. Damn these big houses and their spooky echoes anyways. "Are you up there?"

No answer. Of course, Kaiba could be just be doing what he always does and ignoring him but Jou wanted to at least check if he was alone or not.

Walking up stairs without making too much noise, Jou paused at the top and peered into the dark hall ahead. He was a little freaked out, he admitted to himself, especially since this floor was devoid of humanity and light as well. Where had that idiot run off too?

Venturing cautiously forward, he quickly glanced into each passing room, only to find them empty. Jou wondered why he was even bothering to search for the guy, since spending time with the heartless CEO wasn't exactly an enjoyable task. Yet he felt that, for at least Mokuba's sake, he needed to check if the dolt hadn't passed out somewhere and was currently lying in a puddle of his own drool.

Suddenly, he felt that he wasn't alone and Jou whirled around, feeling his flesh crawl.

"Boo."

"UuuaAAH!" Stumbling back out of sheer shock and terror, Jou landed on his rear in a most unattractive fashion, his mouth still hanging open in shock.

"Oh, what's the matter?" A smooth voice came from overhead. "Did I startle you?"

"K…Kaiba!" Jou managed to sputter as he struggled to his feet, rubbing the newly formed bruise on his ass. "What did you have to go and do that for?"

Kaiba only smirked, his usual form of response. But the other teen saw mirth dancing in the cold, endless depth of his eyes and couldn't seem to come up with a witty retort like always.

"What have you been up to?" The brunette asked after a brief heavy silence had passed between the two, causing the Jou to feel even more awkward than he already did.

"I should be asking you that." Grumbled Jou, trying to regain a sense of normality. "I was out practicing photography, if you must know, for that god-awful project."

"Hn, I supposed we should really get started with that." Kaiba sighed, his annoyance obvious. "Leave it to that poor excuse for a school to come up with such ridiculous tasks for us to complete."

"Yeah, well, the sooner we get it over with, the more time we'll have to avoid each other." Jou wondered why he couldn't seem to put more feeling into what he was saying. After all, it was true. In the time they were allowed to spend apart, Kaiba and Jou were usually at opposite sides of the mansion.

"Now that's something worth working towards. C'mon, mutt, let's hurry up now." The teenaged prodigy snapped, turning to walk briskly away, not even bothering to wait to see if Jou was following him.

For some reason, as he struggled to catch up, Jou had a feeling that his last comment had bothered Kaiba. He was startled with the unexpected change from an almost pleasantly social mood back to that bitter, calculated one that Jou had grown expect from Kaiba. Was it possible that he had hurt the guy's feelings?

'Ah, I'm just thinking too much.' Jou thought as he followed Kaiba outside to the garden again. 'God forbid the day when I can actually damage Seto Kaiba's humongous ego.'

_**-Outside-**_

"Try not to scowl so much."

"I'm not _scowling_."

"And I'm not Katsuya Jounouchi. C'mon, lighten up a bit. You're wilting the flowers."

Kaiba shifted impatiently from one foot to the other, crossing his arms in defiance. "What does it matter what I look like? Just snap the damn picture already and be done with it."

Jou sighed for what felt like the millionth time and ran his free hand through his already mussed hair. They had gotten through his section of pictures rather quickly. Jou was not shy in front of the camera, and he willing threw himself into the moment, trying to look like he fit right in amongst all the nature.

But when they started on Kaiba's pictures, the task had turned out to be nothing short of impossible. He had been trying unsuccessfully for the past ten minutes to get Kaiba to show a little emotion, anything besides that stone cold look he usually wore. But no matter what he tried, the CEO's sullen face still stared back at him unchanged; contrasting so sharply against the rich vibrancy of the foliage behind him it was almost comical.

"Listen, I'm not going to take the picture until you stop standing there with such a dark look on your face and cheer up. Make my day and actually smile for once."

The shark-like grin he got in response was the stuff nightmares were made of.

Jou rolled his eyes and let out a snort of laughter. "That's not smiling, that's baring your teeth. Now be serious—or actually, unserious—and smile. Think about something that you have great affection for; puppies, rainbows, hard drives, large amounts of cash. Anything that'll get you to turn that frown upside down."

Kaiba's brow only furrowed further and Jou had almost started to tell him off again, when, almost tentatively, a serene, calmed look softened the brunette's face into a half-smile. The act was so surprising, so un-Kaiba like, that Jou almost forgot to take the picture.

As soon as the click-whirr of the camera sounded, the telltale sign that the picture had been taken, the expression disappeared in a flash and Kaiba resumed glaring at him in his typical manner. Jou was relieved, since the turmoil of emotions that had roared up inside him from seeing Kaiba like that had left him disturbed.

"There." Jou said, slightly breathless. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Kaiba only glowered in response and Jou began to think that he had imagined the whole thing.

"Well, I think that's enough for the project. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself from smiling like that too often." The blonde smirked, glad he had calmed enough to fall back into his usual routine with Kaiba. He'd have to work out those confusing feelings later, when he was not in danger of letting anything slip.

_**-Dinner-**_

"So, how did the project go?" Mokuba asked cheerily over the food-laden plates that were spread out atop the table.

"Do you even need to ask?" Jou sighed, twisting his perfectly cooked spaghetti with his fork absent mindedly. He didn't feel particularly hungry today, especially since his stomach was still fluttering from earlier. "Trying spin straw into gold is easier than getting a smile out of your brother."

If Kaiba had been affronted with Jou's comment, he didn't show it. He remained stoically hidden behind his newspaper, the business page of course, an occasional rustle of pages the only indication that he was still there.

Jou didn't mind though. Kaiba had come down to eat with them on his own accord, without so much as a plea from either of them. Granted, all he was eating was a small bowl of soup. But it was better than nothing.

He was making an effort.

There it was again. That small turn of his stomach that wasn't disgust but something else. Jou hadn't allowed himself to dwell long on these swooping feelings he was getting whenever he thought about Kaiba. He was too afraid of what he might discover.

"Yeah, he's like that." Mokuba's comment brought Jou out of his thoughts and back to the conversation at hand. "He hasn't always been like that though. He used to smile more, a lot actually, well, until-"

"Mokuba" Kaiba effectively cut the rest of the sentence off with the sternest tone Jou had ever heard him use on his little brother. Usually there was an undercurrent of affection in Kaiba's voice whenever he addressed Mokuba. This time, it just echoed coldness and anger.

And fear.

The air around them was uncomfortable and tense where it had just been relaxed a moment ago. Jou sat, speechless and dumbstruck, until he felt it slowly piece together in his mind. Suddenly, it all made sense.

What an idiot he was to be so easily lulled into believing that he was a part of a family for once, a family where he was finally accepted and wanted. It just might have been the case in any other situation. But he forgot one important thing.

He was dealing with Seto Kaiba.

Kaiba, who had secrets and memories that he would never share with Jou. Kaiba, who wanted nothing to do with him. Kaiba, who looked absolutely stunning just sitting there with that cold, dark look in his eyes.

Jou felt as if he'd been punched in the gut.

"Well, I'm pretty tired tonight." Jou said, getting up and faking a yawn. The uneasiness was apparent in his voice; he could only hope the hurt he was feeling was not. "I think I better be getting on up to bed."

"Oh, uh, are you sure, Jou?" Mokuba quickly said, trying to smooth over what had just happened. "Your dinner, you haven't even-"

"Yeah, it's okay. I'm not too hungry. I ate a big lunch." Jou was already at the door, trying his best to keep a smile on his face and his eyes on Mokuba. If he looked at Kaiba, he didn't know what would happen to him. "Ah, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. Uh…night."

When Jou got to the guest room, he didn't do all the things that he thought was supposed to happen during moments of great sorrow. He didn't throw himself upon the bed crying or slam the door shut in a fit of anger.

He just stood there, in the middle of the room, shaking.

"Ha ha, pretty stupid you are, Katsuya." He heard himself say weakly, voice echoing in the spacious room. "Thinking you belonged and all…pretty fucking stupid."

When he finally did allow himself to cry, Jou felt that he would never stop.

**End of Chapter 17**

**Author's notes: **_Well, can you even believe it? After more than two years, the lovely Lothwen finally updates. Wow, it has been forever. I wonder if anyone is still even reading this story? I must say, looking back and rereading the past chapters again, I find it horribly corny and cliché. XD Oh well, what can you do, huh? No way am I going to redo it. Ha ha. Just so you all know, my writing skills have probably done nothing but decrease in quality these last couple years, especially since I haven't been writing much at all. I just had a sudden inspiration to finish this chapter though and I thought I'd post it for any faithful readers out there, if they even exist anymore. I have no clue when and if I'll finish the next chapter. But I'd appreciate any and all reviews, even if it is to tell me that I wrote the worst chapter ever written in the history of fanfiction. I want to hear from you guys (gals). And wow, this place has changed a lot since I've last been here. Got to go get used to it again…_


	18. The day after

**Story:**_ Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- __Chapter Start & End_

**Chapter 18: The day after**

Jou woke up the next morning feeling as if heavy weights had been attached to his eyelids.

He supposed that was expected, since he practically cried himself to sleep last night. Yawning, Jou sat up and looked over at the clock sitting on the nightstand.

It was already ten in the morning. School started over two hours ago.

Jou jumped out of bed only to tangle his feet in the sheets and nearly fall flat on his face.

'Damn, Kaiba probably didn't even try to wake me up, that bastard.'

Kaiba…damn.

Jou stopped trying to untangle himself from his bed as the previous evening's events came rushing back to him and dread filled him once again.

'Of course Kaiba didn't wake me up, not after that little stunt I pulled at the dinner table.'

Suddenly, Jou didn't feel like going to school anymore. He couldn't really stand the thought of dealing with his out-of-control emotions for Kaiba on top of class.

Jou threw himself back onto the bed, sighing heavily.

'Well, there is only one thing worth doing on a day off.'

Jou pulled the sheets over his head and went back to sleep.

_**-Noon-**_

Jou woke up with a start.

Disoriented, he sat up and looked around; trying to figure out what woke him from his slumber.

When the empty room before him didn't present him with any answers, Jou decided he needed a shower. He felt hot, exhausted, and most of all, depressed.

He shuffled to the bathroom, trying to not catch his reflection in the mirror. He didn't want to see how fucked up he looked right now.

The shower did little to relieve him from his depression, but at least he didn't smell anymore.

As he toweled his hair dry, Jou finally examined himself in the obnoxiously large mirror that hung over the bathroom sink.

His eyes were red and puffy, but not so bad that he couldn't play it off as allergies. What bothered him though was how sad he looked. Leaning closer, Jou forced a smile.

"C'mon buddy, was it really that surprising to you Kaiba would treat you as nothing more than an enemy?"

The sinking feeling he had in his gut told him that he had found it surprising. And that angered him.

'You're expecting too much from him. He isn't even your friend.' Jou scowled at himself. 'What, you thought a couple of laughs and a little flour would change the fact that he hates you?'

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Jou threw his towel into the bathtub and stalked out of the bathroom.

What the hell was he thinking? Falling in love with Kaiba was like falling in love with an iceberg. Or an alligator.

'Goddammit, did I just say I loved him?'

Deciding that he was only making things worse by berating himself, Jou pulled on his clothes and went to go get something to eat.

Maybe food would provide the comfort he so badly needed right now.

_**-Later-**_

Three bowls of ice cream and an hour and a half of daytime television later, Jou felt marginally better.

Marginally being the key word here.

Jou felt like going to sleep again. At least he wasn't haunted in his dreams by Kaiba.

Yet.

But before he could do anything, the jarring ring of the doorbell startled Jou out of the semi-trance the TV had put him in.

'Who could that be? I'm sure Kaiba is at work right now, if not still at school. And why would he be using the doorbell anyways?'

Jou caught himself sighing.

Damn, if the mere thought of Kaiba made him this miserable, how as he going to deal with the real thing?

Ignoring the door, Jou went back to watching the brainless soap opera that was currently on.

But whoever was at the door didn't quit ringing the bell. In fact, the rings got longer and more frequent as time when on.

After what seemed like the fiftieth ring, Jou got up, exasperated. He made a half-assed attempt to wipe away the ice cream he had so carelessly allowed to dribble down onto his shirt and ran a hand through his hair.

Painfully aware he was a mess, Jou opened the door a crack.

"Sorry, Kaiba isn't-"

"Mutt! Damn, what do you think you're doing, taking so long to answer the door?"

Jou looked up and balked. It was Kaiba. In the flesh.

"K…Kaiba!?"

Kaiba ignore Jou's odd reaction and pushed passed him.

"I forgot my keys. It seems some of your carelessness has rubbed off on me."

Jou didn't bother to give a retort, too engrossed in keeping the onslaught of emotions Kaiba's sudden appearance had evoked in him under control. He was also too busy fretting over his appearance.

'I look like a slob!'

Kaiba disappeared into the kitchen and returned with his keys to find Jou unsuccessfully trying to flatten his hair.

Kaiba smirked.

"Don't bother trying to look good for me Jou, I'm not interested."

Jou's head shot up and the color drained from his face.

Kaiba frowned. This was not the reaction he was expecting.

"A joke, Jonouchi. Only a joke."

Jou gave him a strangled laugh, letting his eyes drop to the floor. This bothered Kaiba even more than the previous reaction.

"What's the matter, mutt?" Kaiba pocketed his keys and stepped closer to Jou.

"Nothing's wrong!" Jou said defensively, backing up, as if he were afraid. "I…I mean, I just feel a little under the weather. After all, I missed school because of that."

"Hmm, and here I was so sure that you had just forgotten to set your alarm clock this morning."

Jou gave him a weak smile in return. "Yeah…"

Kaiba found himself getting irritated with Jou's peculiar attitude, but decided to not to push it. Perhaps he really was sick.

"Well, I have to be getting back to the office. I'll leave you to finish your…productive afternoon."

Jou merely stepped aside, allowing Kaiba to pass without a single comment.

Kaiba's frown deepened, but he kept his insults to himself.

"I'll be home at eight. Make sure Mokuba has his dinner."

Kaiba shut the door and walked briskly back to his car.

'I wonder what has made the mutt so docile today.'

On the other side of the door, Jou slumped to the floor.

The pounding of his heart and the unexpected sting of Kaiba's mild teasing all confirmed on thing.

He really was in love.

Jou let out a groan and covered his face.

'What am I going to do?'

**End of Chapter 18**

**Author's notes:** _So. At least it's not two years this time? xD Sorry that it took another six months to update, with another short chapter no less. But, life has been busy. And I'm seriously considering changing my major from English to something to do with graphic arts. But before that, I want to see if I can rekindle my passion for writing. I really enjoy writing, just all the biting comments from my current English teacher has led me to believe that I'm not very good at it. Anyways, reviews, as usual, are loved._


	19. Attitude adjustment

**Story:**_ Puppies and Dragons Don't Mix_

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own Yugioh._

**Warning:**_ Yaoi (boyxboy). May contain lime and/or lemon._

**Pairings: **_Jou/Kaiba Possibly: Yami/Yugi Ryou/Bakura Otogi/Honda_

**Summary:**_ Jou finds out that Kaiba is slowly destroying himself and desperately needs help. But why should he care? He's his worst enemy...right?_

**Symbols: **_"Talking" 'Thinking' -Scene Change- __Chapter Start & End_

**Chapter 19: Attitude adjustment**

In the beginning, Kaiba didn't pay much attention to the change in Jou's behavior.

School, work, and that damned project kept him busy enough to successfully distract him from his surroundings. He was never the most sensitive person when it came to noticing others' feelings. He usually couldn't afford to waste time noticing.

But one night, that all changed.

He was working on a long overdue project in his office, one that his colleagues had successfully screwed up on, and felt himself getting drowsy.

'Must be getting late.'

Yawning, Kaiba glanced up at the wall clock and blinked in surprise.

It was already one in the morning.

'No wonder I feel tired. I haven't worked this late ever since that damn mutt moved in.'

Whenever Kaiba attempted to pull an all-nighter, Jonouchi always made sure to harass him over the phone so he would come home in time for dinner.

The phone, however, had remained silent all evening.

Kaiba frowned.

'Wonder what the mutt is up to. He never misses out on a chance to make my life hell. Like last time…'

Kaiba's frown deepened. When exactly was the last time Jou had called him to come home from work? It must have been over a week ago.

'Really now, it couldn't have been that long ago.'

Kaiba thought back and realized it certainly _was_ that long ago. In fact, it had been over a week since Jou had done anything to harass him. No insults, no playful jokes…

'He hasn't even been at dinner lately. The only contact I've had with him is when we're doing the project, and even during that he hardly talks.'

Kaiba scowled and began packing up his things. What did he care if Jou suddenly decided to change his attitude? It certainly made things easier for him. He could actually get a decent amount of work done without the blonde pestering him.

But the thought of Jou didn't leave his mind, even during the drive home, and Kaiba found himself growing more and more irritated.

'When did this start? It had to be after the photography project. He was his usual annoying self during that. After that then? What happened after?'

Kaiba recalled the time Jou had skipped school. That was when he first noticed that the mutt was acting a little odd.

For the life of him though, he couldn't think of any reasons for Jou's sudden change of heart.

'I wonder if he's gotten bored with our relationship.'

Kaiba grimaced._ Relationship?_ That didn't come off right.

'Our rivalry then. Maybe he's found someone else to bother.'

That put a sinking feeling in Kaiba's gut. He enjoyed his confrontations with Jonouchi. The mutt never failed to amuse him with his foolish antics.

'I actually enjoy having him around. Wait…I take that back. I don't. I don't like having him around at all. I've got to stop thinking about this.'

Shaking his head, Kaiba decided to confront Jou in the morning and force him to admit to what was wrong. Then maybe Kaiba could go back to ignoring the unnecessary feelings he was having for Jou.

_**-At home-**_

The house was dark and quiet when Kaiba finally arrived.

Kaiba made his way up the stairs painstakingly slow as to not wake Mokuba up, but halfway to the top, he noticed a faint flickering coming from the living room.

'Someone must have left the TV on.'

Sighing, Kaiba made his way back down and walked over to the room, not willing to waste precious electricity.

He certainly did not expect anyone to be in there. And he certainly didn't expect to find Jou in there, sitting with his knees pulled to his chest, looking the most vulnerable Kaiba had ever seen him.

"Jonouchi?" Kaiba said, startled by the boy's presence.

Jou jumped in surprise. Obviously Kaiba wasn't the only one who was startled.

Jou recovered quickly however. Sitting up, he turned to face Kaiba.

"Kaiba. Back from work finally? Or did you forget something again?"

After a week without so much as a teasing remark from Jou, Kaiba was puzzled by the acidic tone of Jou's words.

'What exactly is going on?'

"No, no. I'm home. I didn't realize it had gotten so late."

Jou stood up and crossed the room in a few short strides.

"Yeah, well, I'm surprised you came home at all. Goodnight Kaiba, see you in the morning."

Jou made to brush pass him but Kaiba caught his arm before he could escape.

"Hey, wait. Listen. What exactly is the matter with you?"

There was a short pause as Jou turned to look back at him, anger written all over his face. "Nothing is the matter with me. Now if you'll excuse me-" Jou tried to jerk his arm away, but Kaiba wouldn't relent.

"Liar. You've been avoiding me ever since the photography project. You haven't said two words to me for a week and now you suddenly start biting my head off? What's wrong with you, mutt?"

In the faint glow the TV gave off, Kaiba saw Jou clench his jaw.

"Nothing is the matter, Kaiba. Let go-"

"No, not until you quit acting like a drama queen and tell me what has gotten into you."

Jou tried to wrench his arm away again, the volume of his voice rising a few notches. "What do you care? I thought you might enjoy the extra time away from me since you _hate_ me so much."

"Jonouchi-"

"Shut up. And let me go." Jou turned and pushed Kaiba away roughly, successfully breaking free.

Kaiba should have done the smart thing and let him go. After all, it was clear that Jou wasn't going to tell him anything. It would have been logical just to let the mutt go…

But instead, Kaiba caught Jou by the arm again, yanking him closer.

"No! Tell me what is wrong, dammit! I'm tired of being-"

The punch hit him in the side of his face. Kaiba swore he heard something crack and pain exploded in front of his eyes. He felt himself falling back.

Kaiba tightened his grip on Jou though and brought the both of them crashing to the floor. Jonouchi made an attempt to escape again, landing another punch in Kaiba's side, but Kaiba wrestled him back down, successfully pinning him to the ground.

"Fuck! Kaiba! Get the fuck off me!" Jou raged and thrashed violently beneath Kaiba. "Get the fuck away from me!"

"Jonouchi! Jonouchi, stop!" Kaiba tried to reason with Jou. It took all of his strength to keep him pinned and he couldn't keep it up for much longer. All he wanted to do was talk.

But Jou continued to fight back, his eyes wild with anger and fear. "Fuckin' piece of shit, let me go! I hate- I HATE YOU!"

The last words came out as a strangled cry and Jou suddenly stilled, gasping and shuddering as sobs began to wrack his body.

Kaiba felt his stomach twist in dread. What had he done?

Releasing his grip, Kaiba sat up, looking down at the crying teen before him. "Jonouchi…"

"J…just shut up." Jonouchi stuttered between sobs. "I know, I…I'm pathetic, right? Just get the f…fuckin' hell away."

Kaiba remained silent but didn't rise from his position. Instead, he brushed Jou's hair away from his face.

Jou jerked at the touch.

"W…what-? What are you-?"

But before Jonouchi could finish his sentence, Kaiba leaned down, and kissed him.

**End of Chapter 19**

**Author's notes:** _Finally! Some action! I hate writing fight scenes, mostly because they come out lame no matter what I do. But I love angry confrontations right before an angry/angsty kiss. So I had to try my hand at it. xD_

_And look, two updates in less than two days! I don't want to jinx it, but I think I'm getting back into the habit of writing. Hopefully, if all goes well, there will be more updates to come in the next few weeks. :D So drop me a review and encourage me to finish this damned fanfiction, 'kay?_


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